#The love nymphes have taught me how to please a woman

[cyrki]

bro ive been stalking u for two years just give me a chance already🙏☹️

[gaysindistress]

Soldat - three

summary: After finally settling down in Louisiana with Sam, Bucky thinks he’s finally free. Unbeknownst to him, there’s an organization who’s mission is take out all enhanced individuals and he’s their next target

pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader (code name is Elv)

warnings: cursing, Bucky’s smartass, angst, guns, violence,

word count: 2.6k

Part 2 | master list

translations: they all come from google so if they’re wrong, please let me know!

Hvilen kommer når ondskapen er borte: Rest will come when evil is gone

dejevler: devils

Jeg snakker ikke med djevler. - I don’t speak with devils.

forbedret - enchanced

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on google/Pinterest

How one comes to be a Voktere is a gray area. They are not like the Widows, children stolen from poor families but they are also not willing participants. Most are descendants of those who were harmed by the dejevler, seeking retribution for their lost loved ones. As generations pass and original causes are forgotten, the Voktere of today have no memory of what life is like without the organization, their only life experiences being within the Voktere code and life. Born into the life, Elv is the prime example of this; her great grandfather had been murdered by a dejevler and his wife sought out the Voktere to avenge his death, pledging their offspring to an eternity of labor for the leaders of the world. All day every day, she’s a therapist, mother, maid, nymph, then a virgin, nurse and a servant. She is just an appendage that lives to attend to the leaders of the Voktere but she knows no other way. The weight of her reality weighs on her as the car rolls down the highway and she’s left to wonder if she’s just another pawn.

Why hadn’t Fjell shown up? 

Why hadn’t Selje or Bregne shown up?

Why was she in this car, being taken to gods know where?

Why wasn’t she saved?

Did she really mean nothing?

Bucky had convinced Sam to stay in Delacroix as they head to New Orleans for Norway, leaving just him and the woman that seemed to hate him with all of her being. Of course it hadn’t gone down without a fight; Sam demanded to come but Bucky refused, asserting that this was something that he needed to do alone. Seeing the determination in his eyes, his friend conceded and let him leave alone. However without Sam, Elv had gone back to only speaking with only absolutely necessary, still holding her vow seriously albeit wavering. 

The other question that swirls around her head is how did he know where the compound is or is he bluffing until she tells him? Curiosity gets the better of her and it spills out before she can stop it. 

“How do you know where our compound is?”

There’s a flash of surprise in his cerulean eyes at her question but it quickly fades as he replies without taking them off the road, “It’s not that hard to find.”

“How much do you know about us?”

“Enough.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she steels herself so she doesn’t lose her mind with his short answers. 

“Define enough.”

“Now it’s acceptable to talk to a dejevel?” The word taunts her as it rolls off his tongue, a hint of mischief is evident in his eyes as he takes a quick look at her. 

Frustration rises in her throat, threatening to tear its way out but she knows better than to let her emotions get the best of her no matter how on edge he makes her. Being in close proximity to him is clipping away at her resolve, piece by piece as he becomes more human to her. The more she notices about him, the less she sees him as the Winter Soldier and with this shift, the mission directive of termination is becoming increasingly harder to maintain. She was taught to never speak to the targets because it does this; it humanizes them and makes it harder to carry out the mission. Never has she made this mistake but there’s something about him that makes her want to get closer to him and she’s going to deny it as long as she can. 

“Only when you claim to know about us,” she mutters, staring out the window to watch the landscape around them pass by. 

He doesn’t respond right away, letting the silence create tension again before answering her previous question, “I know enough that if I don’t finish this now, I’ll be running for the rest of my life.”

“You plan to wipe out all Voktere?”

“No.”

“Then what is your plan?”

“Can’t tell you that just yet. All you need to know is that it includes you getting us inside the compound.”

She rolls her eyes at the idea, “They won’t let me in if they know you took me. They’ll shoot us on the spot.”

“That’s your problem to figure out.”

The car is consumed by silence once again, each rider contemplating how to best the other. The drive to New Orleans is not long, only lasting about an hour or so but it doesn’t stop the tension from growing to a suffocating level. Relief washes over her as they roll to a stop on a private airstrip and she’s able to open the door, taking in the fresh air. A man appears at the side of one of the three planes and approaches the car. An uneasy feeling rises in her chest as he gets closer and is not eased by the look of familiarity that fills Bucky’s face. The two men greet each other in mild excitement as they speak with hushed tones. Elv can’t hear anything they’re saying, only able to assume that they’re talking about the plane and her. Her assumption is correct when she hears her name come from Bucky’s mouth and he makes a motion with his head in her direction. 

“How quickly can we get to their compound?”

The unnamed man sucks in a breath between clenched teeth, “With a standard plane, maybe 15-16 hours but I might have something that would get you there faster.”

He leads Bucky towards the hanger and opens the large door to reveal an all too familiar aircraft; a quinjet. 

“This could get you there in about half of the time and under the radar.”

The blank look on Bucky’s face is telling of how he feels about the quinjet, “Do I want to know how you got one?”

“Better to not ask questions, so do you want it?”

The side eye the unnamed man receives is his answer and he claps his hand together as he says, “Great! I’m guessing you know how to fly it.”

“Yes,” is Bucky’s one word answer as he waves a hand for Elv to join them. 

As she makes her way to the two men, she recognizes the unnamed man as a popular supplier among her previous targets. It seems as though he recognizes her as well from the way he shrinks slightly when she comes to stand by Bucky. She wants to revel in the discomfort she brings him except the feeling of cold metal on her back freezes her threat as she’s softly nudged towards the sleek aircraft. No other words are exchanged as they climb aboard and take their seats in the cockpit. He hands her a headset as he begins to prepare the quinjet for take off, flipping on many switches and pushing various buttons as it awakens. 

“Hello Sergeant Barnes,” the quinjet’s system announces. 

A smile graces his face at the name as he puts on his own headset. 

“Ready?” cracks through her headset and makes her jump slightly from the sudden sound. 

That deep laugh from the dock comes shortly after and she sharply inhales as that feeling takes over her body as the jet creeps forward and out of the hangar. 

“Estimated time of arrival is 9 hours” the quinjet tells them. 

“You can sleep. I promise to not kill you in your sleep,” Bucky tells Elv, a slight smirk across his lips as the jet begins to take off. 

“I’ll take my chances with fatigue.”

“Are all Voktere stubborn?”

With her eyes closed because of the turbulence from taking off, she can’t see the way he looks over at her in concern and checks over her for signs of distress. She can see the way he relaxes when he doesn’t find anything and returns to leveling out the jet. 

“If by stubborn you mean devoted then yes.”

“Devotion is really just blind following.”

Even though she’s said she would rather take her chances with fatigue, she had drifted off with her head resting against the side of the seat. The faint flashing lights of the console is what finally wakes her. Sitting up in her seat, she tries to make it look like she wasn’t sleeping. 

“I kept my promise, didn’t I?” There’s that charming smirk again as he checks on her. 

“Maybe you wanted to see the life drain from my eyes,” she stifles a yawn, “make the kill enjoyable.” 

“Jesus you’re morbid.” 

“Comes with the territory. How much longer?” 

The quinjet answers for her, stating her real name as it responds with 4 hours remaining. 

Bucky muses over the sound of her name and repeats it, syllables rolling off in a way that’s too pleasing to her ear. Half expecting a punch or snide remark, he tries it again and this time he makes sure he’s looking at her. There’s tension in her jaw, evident in the way the muscle contracts when he says her name. Her breathing hitches as well, breaking her usually steady and otherwise undetectable breathing pattern. The trained heartbeat skips causing an irregular harmony under his watchful eye. 

“How does it know me?” she utters under her breath, internally begging her body to regain control. 

“I think it’s programmed to recognize everyone.” 

“I am not traceable. It’s impossible,” she asserts a little louder. 

“Clearly not.”

“The Voktere are not known to the public, our people are ghosts among humans. It is impossible for this machine to know my name,” her voice grows louder but she says it  more to herself. 

“That’s what you’re taught but it’s not true. The Voktere are the same as the Widows; agents trained for the greed of others.” 

Her brows furrowed in confusion at his word as she tried to reason within herself, “No we are an ancient order. We were created to protect the human race.” 

“Do you remember your parents?”

“What?” 

He repeats his question with a knowing look. 

Stumbling over her words, she racks her brain for memories of her parents, grandparents, anything. Nothing comes to her mind, only the motto she loves by; Hvilen kommer når ondskapen er borte. 

“No.” 

“Do you remember why you became a Voktere?” 

“My great grandfather was murdered and his wife joined to avenge him.”

Letting go of a deep sigh, he begins his unraveling of her world, “Thats what you’ve been told. The Voktere is an older sect of Hydra, created to capture anyone that could create the super soldier serum. After Hydra made the serum, they shifted their mission to keeping the soldiers to check. When Hydra fell, a woman named Labrenda Eik took over and made all of the remaining Voktere into super soldiers. She wanted to make an army of them but knew she needed to remove any threats hence why you go on missions.”

The revelation is mind boggling to Elv who is having a difficult time even listening to what he’s saying. It can’t possibly be true that Kommandør Eik of all people created the very thing they’ve been taught to protect humans from. 

However he isn’t finished, “You go through the same torture I did; constant brainwashing to be the perfect weapon. There’s a reason why you can’t remember anything but your training; that’s what she wants.” 

“Do you really expect me to believe you?”

“Why would I lie?”

“To get me on your side.” 

“Think about it more; why would I lie to you?” 

So she does. She searches her brain for anything that would prove him wrong, a memory, a face, anything at all. Just as before she doesn’t find anything, only the implanted origin story of her great grandfather and her upbringing in Voktere training. There’s nothing familiar about her memories of her family, they replay like scenes from a movie she’s watched too many times. While she struggles internally, Bucky is keeping a close eye on her, monitoring her vitals as she begins to show signs of distress. Calling her name does nothing to bring her back so he places a hand on her knee to ground her in reality. 

The touch shocks her, forcing a gasp and ragged breathing as she stares at it. Even though her mind is telling her to remove it, her body leans into the touch and relaxes. 

“I’m forbedret.” 

“No you’re human. You are a person,” his kind words are the final crack in her resolve as tears begin to spill freely down her cheeks. 

Bucky presses a few buttons and confirms with the quinjet that yes he wants it on autopilot. He gets up and kneels behind her chair, gently pulling it so she is facing him. The clasps of her seatbelt are undone with it being the only thing that was keeping her upright, she drops forward and into Bucky who catches her. Curling her arms under his and around his shoulders, she lets out of her stress, frustration, anger, and pain into his shoulder, the cold of the metal seeping through his shirt and onto her cheek. Years of being the perfect soldat, the perfect follower, the perfect daughter to an organization that was using her were let out in her tears. The weight of simply existing as a Voktere could never be fully lifted from her shoulders just as the weight of being the Winter Soldier could never leave his. With time, as he has learned, the weight does lighten and your old self does return. While she may not have an old self to return to, she would be able to create a new identity, one where Elv would be forgotten and her name would be the only thing people knew her as. 

“It’s okay Doll,” whispered into her hair as her tears started to slow. Drawing back but not enough to leave his embrace, she wipes her face with the sides of her hands.

“What are you going to do to Kommandør Eik?”

His thumbs rub her arms as he thinks about how to answer, “Does she carry a notebook around with her?”

“A notebook?”

“Yeah she’s always carrying it, never leaves it unattended. Have you ever seen what’s inside?”

Her nose wrinkles from the crying as she replies, “There’s one in her office that doesn’t leave. She left it open one time but closed it before I could really see anything.” 

“What did it say?”

“Um,” she’s rubbing her temple while trying to remember what exactly she saw, “I think it was a list but I can’t remember what it said.”

“That’s fine. When we get to the compound, I need you to get to her office and find that notebook. That list is a list of trigger words to restart you but there should be a second list to release all of your memories. Once you find the notebook, say the second list over the intercom and you should be able to release all of the Voktere who hear.”

“What about Eik?”

“I’ll handle that but do you understand what I need from you?” He's holding her shoulders tightly now to convey just how serious he’s being. She nods once to confirm that she understands. 

“Good,” he smiles at her, wrinkles showing up around his eyes that give him a softer appearance and warms her heart. She wants to reach out and trace them, get to know every line that graces his features and find out the many stories that led to those smile lines. Another time she tells herself as he lets her go and gets to his feet to fly the quinjet again. Buckling her seat, she spins back around with the memory of his smile forever replaying in her head. 

[lesmis-lesmisera-lesohno]

@aromantic-enjolras, @p-trichor

*awkward wave* hiiiiiiii:))))

okay so i know i said i would write this last week, but tbh, last week was a w e e k (fuckyouanxiety)

anyways, i have written down my headcanons for the werewolf au! it is a bit of a mess, and it probably doesn't make much sense but! i did it!:))

i honestly wasn't planning on writing this much tho, it kinda got away from me lol, but i would have written more tbh, if it wasn't already so long

(also now that i have written this i really want to draw this whole thing, somebody please s t o p m e)

(also if anyone wants to take this shitty au idea and actually write a fic, i would be absolutely delighted! and! i would love to do art for it!:))))

enjoy this mess i guess:))))

General:

This is a fantasy au, set in a slightly ambiguous time period (I'm thinking anywhere from the middle ages, to today, mixed together and thrown in a blender:)))

Werewolves and other monsters live side by side with humans, but often have to hide their identity for fear of discrimination and unjust prosecution

Les Amis de l'ABC Is an activist group, fighting against the discrimination of werewolves and other monsters

The group consists of both humans and non-humans

Grantaire:

He was born with lycanthropy, as the result of a curse placed upon his parents before he was born

His parents didn't want a wolf child, so they abandoned him in the woods as a newborn, where he was found by an old woman who took him in

The old woman had been raised by witches, and though not skilled in the art of magic herself, had quite the talent for medecine, and remedies, and was well equipped to take care of a young werewolf

And so, for most of his childhood, Grantaire and the old woman lived peacefully and happily in a small cottage in the woods

The old woman taught him to read and write, and gifted him with books on mythology, art, and magic, and on full moon nights, he would be allowed to roam the woods

When he was eight he met Enjolras for the first time

They never knew each other by name, they were just two children playing together in the woods, referring to each other as 'friend'

A year later Grantaire tells Enjolras about his lycanthropy, and the following week, Enjolras stops coming to the woods

Grantaire learned to keep his lycanthropy to himself after that

When he was seventeen, Grantaire left the safety of the small cottage behind, wanting to explore more of the world than the woods he had been raised in. He left the old woman with the promise that he would write home with tales of his adventures, and would visit whenever he was in the area.

A werewolf is not, as you might have heard, some kind of vicious, mindless beast. If you stay out of it's path and treat it with respect, it should pose no particular danger, to anyone but the fools stupid enough to threaten it.

Unfortunately most people do not know this fact, and Grantaire quickly learned to hide everything that about himself that tied him to the wolf.

He was nineteen, when the old woman he had lived with his whole childhood, sent him a letter telling him not to come visit anymore. A while later he found out that she had been arrested and executed for alleged crimes against the country. And he realized, that her letter had not been her rejecting him, but a warning, and that her only crime had been housing a werewolf.

Around the same time, he started drinking. He started sleeping around with anyone who would take him. And he fell into cynicism and depression

The boy who had been raised with love and care, and had gone out into the world, hopeful, and eager to create his own path, had now seen just how cruel the world could be to anyone it deemed a threat, or viewed as different. He was done fighting.

When he was twenty five he met Les Amis de l'ABC, and he fell in love. For the first time in six years, he felt hope again.

Enjolras:

Ejolras was born with a tail. No one knew exactly how or why, except maybe his parents, but to them the fact that their only child had a tail, was their greatest shame, and as far as they were concerned, it had to stay hidden at all times

In every other aspect, Enjolras was perfect. Having been born with beautiful golden locks, and radiant blue eyes, and being rather mild marrered, his parnents would recieve many compliments on their child's good looks and behaviour

Enjolras might have been a soft spoken child, but his favourite thing was playing outside in the woods, much to his parents frustration. Enjolras also did not like his parents very much

Enjolras' parents were very conservative, very outspoken against anything they didn't agree with, and most of all, not very good people. Not that anyone but Enjolras seemed to notice this, they were wealthy after all, and were respected members of the community.

When Enjolras was six, he met Grantaire and he made his first friend

Grantaire doesn't care that Enjolras has a tail. Grantaire doesn't care that Enjolras likes to play outside, and gets dirty sometimes. Grantaire doesn't care that he doesn't wear the dresses his mother buys him, or that he isn't really a girl.

Grantaire is weird, and he is Enjolras' favourite person

When Grantaire tells him that he is a werewolf, Enjolras knows his parents are wrong

He gets in a fight with them.the following week, and the next day his parents hire a surgeon to remove his tail, and he is shipped off to boarding school

Enjolras cries for weeks after that

At school he meets Combeferre and Courfeyrac, and they quickly become his most trusted friends

It's not until years later that he realizes that neither of them are completely human, and he accepts them fully , just as they have always accepted him

When he is thirteen, his two best friends are sent away, and for the first time in seven years he feels entirely alone

At sixteen he runs away from home, and from school, and from everything he has ever known.

The first of the amis he meets is Bahorel. They meet after he gets into a fight with three people twice his size, and Bahorel saves him. He proceeds to call Enjolras an idiot, and takes him under his wing.

Bahorel is seven years older than him, and a werewolf, and he introduces him to Feuilly and Jehan (a human and a wood nymph)

He meets Joly and Bossuet next

Joly is dabbling in witchcraft next to his medical studies, an Bossuet is his boyfriend who has been cursed from an early age with bad luck

Enjolras takes to his new friends instantly and together they form Les Amis de l'ABC

Enjolras is twenty and he is the leader of an activist group fighting for the rights of every creature and human alike

Two years later Combeferre and Courfeyrac finds him again

They find him by accident, having heard of the group and decided to attend a meeting. The moment Enjolras sees them, his eyes light up, and he embraces them both in a crushing hug. The rest of the group warms up to them immediately

A year later Grantaire joins them, and Enjolras doesn't recognize him

[percywinchester27]

A lot like ‘Us’ (Part-12)

Word count: 5.4K

Pairing: Sam X Reader AU

Warnings: Feels, pining, fluff ;)

Series Summary: Y/N Y/L/N is eager and honestly, still in awe that she managed to get herself an acceptance from Stanford Law School. On the face of it, her life seems as put together, mysterious and independent as one might hope for. On the insides, she carries the burden of past that haunts her till date. Seemingly, she’d left it all behind; that is until she sets foot in the class of the Law School’s youngest, most promising professor.

A/N: I am so excited to see what you think of this chapter! I haven’t made a secret of the fact that this is one of my absolute favorite chapters. I had a lot of fun writing it <3

The story employs two different timelines. The present timeline for the story takes place in 2014. Please let me know what you guys think :)

Beta: @deanssweetheart23​​. You are a goddess. I love you <3

A lot like ‘Us’ masterlist

Sam regretted it the moment he stepped into the bar. The lights were dim, the music was hip and it was too full of people. What was more, a lot of those faces seemed familiar. Maybe he had seen them around the campus?

Sam found a corner booth, away from the bar counter and the pool table. It was isolated and about as quiet as any table was going to get. He drew out his phone and texted Jody.

“I’m here. Where are you?”

Sighing, he locked the screen on his phone. Sam was beyond exhausted. He had stayed up the night, driven for close to twelve hours in total to and fro from LA, and went cut to cut with one of the fiercest attorneys he had ever met. At least, James was out for good. The look on his face at the sight of Sam had been worth everything. Sam had been so scared that he wouldn’t be able to get the kid out. Now that he had, all he wanted to do was fall in bed and not wake up till Sunday. 

Even as that thought took shape, he knew he was lying to himself. More than anything, he wanted to find Y/N and thank her for her help last night, let her know how the hearing went. If someone at Acton Gris had helped him, he would have taken them along for the hearing because the effort deserved it. A part of him had wanted to ask Y/N. She would be allowed, since she was a law student accompanying the attorney, but Sam didn’t think he could handle being in her presence for so long. Besides, she’d had classes in the morning. Either way, she deserved to know the verdict. He had contemplated emailing her, then thought better of it. Maybe he would drop by at the library to see if it was her shift. It was only 12. The library would be open for at least two more hours.

He banished the thought as quickly as it appeared, though, physically shaking his head. He needed to factor in the consideration that she probably didn’t want to keep running into him all the time.

His phone pinged. It was Jody letting him know that Alex was yet to get home from some party of her own and that she would be late, if she came at all. 

Fantastic. Simply fantastic.

He should have just gone to bed. Being in bars at midnight? He was too old for this. It had been Jody’s idea to begin with! She was the one who had made plans for the weekend and was standing him up now.

“Professor Winchester?”

Sam groaned internally before seeing who had called him. It was a glimmeringly clad freshman from his class. 

Could the evening get any worse? He had to run into his students.

“Ohmygosh! I can’t believe you’re here,” gushed the girl. Sam vaguely remembered that her name was Staten.

The other girl whose name Sam didn’t know at all nodded vigorously. “You’re so cool!”

Both of them were bright eyed and obviously tipsy. That was a combination for trouble if Sam had ever seen one. 

He got up. “Nice to see you ladies,” he said sliding out of the booth. “I’m going to step out for just a second. Y’all have fun.”

“Mr. Winchester,” one of them called, but Sam was out the back door. Few years of teaching had taught him enough in that department. During his early days, years ago, when he first started as a visiting faculty, he would insist that the class call him by his first name. He had been ignorant about how it came across and only after a couple of students had made a pass at him had he grown wary and stuck to being addressed by his last name. It never got less weird, having people address him as ‘Mr. Winchester,’ but he was used to it now.

Stepping outside, Sam breathed in the cold air, wondering again what the hell he was doing here.

He pulled out his phone and dialed Jody.

She picked up on the second ring. “I’m so sorry, Sam!” She apologised profusely. “Alex’s tyre gave out and she’s stranded a couple miles out.”

“Shit. Do you want me to pick her up?”

“No, it’s alright,” she reassured. “She’ll feel awful about you driving out to get her. I’m heading out now. Please just wait a little longer. I feel horrible about keeping you waiting, especially since it was my idea.”

He looked at the watch. It was quarter past twelve. “Jody…” he sighed.

“Okay, wait for just fifteen more minutes,” she bargained. “If I’m not there by then, you can go home and I’ll owe you drinks for the rest of the year.”

“Rest of your life, and we have a deal,” Sam smiled despite himself. “Okay. Fifteen minutes.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” She said, clearly amused. “That’s how you become a good lawyer. Okay, Fine.”

Sam laughed.

“You know I love you, Winchester.”

“I know you do!”

Sam put the phone back in his pocket. He wouldn’t have known what to do with his life if Jody hadn’t stepped in and taught him how to look after another person who was solely dependent on him. She was the best friend and mentor he could have asked for.

He slid back inside the bar, determined to avoid any and each student he saw. Especially the drunk ones. Luck was on his side. The whole freshman gang had moved to the pool table, removed from the main area. This late he would have expected the crowd to thin out, but hoards of people were on the dance floor moving their bodies to the rhythm of the song. Taking advantage of the crowd, Sam went over to the bar counter.

“Jack. Neat!” He asked the woman behind the counter. She had long dark hair and a mischievous smile.

“Coming right up, handsome!” She winked.

Sam smiled awkwardly as she slid the glass.

“Hey, Mister! Repeat this one!”

Sam’s head snapped in the direction of the voice. It was loud and bossy and Y/N’s.

“Y/N?” The bartender in front of him squinted at the girl two benches from him, clearly surprised.

Sam would have moved sooner, but he was awestruck at the sight of her. Y/N was wearing a silky, satiny top that was cut low and clung to her body like a second skin over tight jeans and heeled boots. Her hair cascaded over her bare shoulders like a nymph’s. Sam’s throat went dry.

The bartender rushed over to her. “Christ, Y/N!” she said. “What’re you doing here?”

Y/N looked at her with wide, surprised eyes. “Pam! OH MY GOD, PAM! It’s you! 

“Yes, I work here,” the bartender, whose name was apparently Pam, said. “Rob, how much has she had to drink?”

The guy shrugged. “One vodka, three tequillas. I don’t know about before.”

“Y/N?” Pam patted Y/N’s face. “Are you by yourself?”

“Kinda!” Y/N giggled, tossing her hair back in a smooth flip. Sam’s heartbeat spiked at the sight. He absolutely couldn’t wrench his eyes away.

Y/N bent over the counter, then jerked her thumb at the freshman gang and whispered conspiratorially. “I’m with those guys over there, but I don’t think they care if I wander off. Can I tell you a secret? Most of them are douchebags anyway.”

“Rob!” Pam barked. “Do we have a standby? Rinny? Or just anyone else?”

“It’s just us tonight.”

“Well, fuck!” Pam swore.

“Y/N, honey,” she tried to get Y/N to listen to her, but Y/N was already trying to sit up on the bar, blowing kisses at Pam. “You’re the best, Pam. Just the absolute best and I love how much you love my cookies.”

“Everyone loves your cookies, honey, but you need to get down.”

“Okay… Okay,” Y/N winked. She slipped as she tried to get down from the counter. Reflexively Sam moved, catching her before she crashed to the ground.

“I got you, don’t worry,” he said in a low voice only to her and she looked up at him with wide confused eyes. 

“Hey, get your hands off of her, Mister.” Pam hissed, looking scarily angry. “I said, let go of her. Right now.”

Sam did so immediately, but Y/N didn’t let go of his shirt. “I know her,” he tried to explain to Pam, who looked like she was on the verge of calling the bouncers.

“Yeah, that’s right, you know her,” Pam grimaced. “Very believable.”

“I swear, I know her,” Sam said, wildly trying to explain. “Her name’s Y/N Y/L/N. She’s a law student at the university. First year, hails from Kansas and feels insanely cold.” Sam started spewing random facts he could think of. “Her favourite book is To kill a mockingbird. She bakes amazing muffins-”

She likes her coffee with very little milk, is scared of ducks and has a birthmark in the middle of her lower back. She likes listening to classical music and waking up early…

Meanwhile, Y/N was still looking at him in wonderment, shushing herself.

“How do you know all that about her?” Pam looked at him with suspicion and mingled curiosity.

“I’m her-” it hurt to say- “ her friend.”

She still didn’t look completely convinced.

“Y/N?” Pam asked the girl in Sam’s arms. “You know this man?”

Don’t be that far gone, Sam prayed internally. Please don’t be that far gone.

“Pfftt,” Y/N scoffed, with such force that she lost her footing again. “It’s Sam! I’d sooner forget myself than not know him! What sort of dumb question is this?”

Sam.

She had said his name. It had caressed her lips. Was it even possible to be jealous of your own name?

Pam  raised her eyebrows.

“Look,” she said, “I can’t leave my shift to drop her home and no one I can call will be up this late. Y/N clearly knows you. Do you think you can drop her home?”

“I-I don’t know where she stays!”

Pam quickly wrote down an address. “It’s just a couple blocks away. I’m going to call her cell in a while, so you better not try anything funny.”

Sam wanted to roll his eyes, but he was too terrified at the prospect of being left alone with Y/N. He glanced around to see a couple of looks coming their way.

“Yeah, I’ll take her,” he said finally. “The hangover will hit her hard in a while, it’s better that she’s home then. Trust me, I know.”

Pam took one look from his face to Y/N wrapped around his torso. “Thanks, man.”

He nodded and then slowly guided Y/N out. “C’mon. Let’s get you home.”

“You know where I live?” She asked, tilting her head to one side.

“I do now.” Fortunately or unfortunately it was right next to Sam’s street. 

He adjusted her so that she was tucked under his side. Her fingers were still boldly clutching at his undershirt, sending shocks of sensation throughout his body. 

“This way, c’mon,” He guided her forward.

“Stop pushing me. I. Can’t. Walk. Any. Faster!” She whined. “These shoes suck.”

“Okay, let’s just sit for a while.” He slowly steered her to a bench on the street. It wasn’t right outside the bar, hence, out of clear view. Sam lowered her onto the bench and she promptly pulled her feet up, trying to slide the zipper on her shoes. They honestly looked like a death trap of sorts. The zipper stuck out adamantly as she yanked at it with all her might.

Hands trembling, he caught hold of hers. “Wait. Let me.”

Slowly, with a steadier hand, Sam dragged down the zippers on both her shoes- carefully, to not touch her skin- freeing her feet. She drew into herself, massaging the reddened skin on the arch and the back of her heel. 

“Stupid Meg,” she muttered. “Shouldn’t have let her put me in these.” 

She massaged her toes. “It hurts.”

“Will you let me take a look at it?” He asked hesitantly. Y/N twisted her body and put both her feet straight into his lap. 

“Here! Look all you want.”

Her hair was fluttering lightly in the wind and despite the chill, she wasn’t reaching for the leather jacket. Looking at her was like looking at the sun. He wanted to, but couldn’t, because it hurt at the same time. The satin of her blouse was kissing her soft skin in all the right places.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Y/N teased collusively. She scooted closer, almost sitting completely in his lap now. “Can I tell you a secret? I think about it, too.”

Sam pushed her away lightly and God it hurt to do it, but she wasn’t in her senses right now. Sober, she wouldn’t have wanted any of this.

“We should get you home!” He said in a tight voice.

“No!” She was adamant. “Why are you in such a hurry to get away from me?”

Oh the irony. “You were the one who left me, Y/N.” 

Y/N not having heard a word of it was scooting closer to him again. She laid her head on his shoulder, and snaked her arms around his waist. Sam stilled, not even daring to breathe.

“Let’s just stay here forever. You and me.” She laughed all of a sudden. “This is literally the best dream I’ve ever had. I can actually feel you.” She hugged him tighter to prove her point. “See?”

“Is this what your dreams are made up of?” 

“The good ones, yeah,” she sighed tiredly. “But mostly they’re just bad and I’m cold and there’s so much water, Sam. There was so much water.”

Suddenly she started shivering and Sam pulled the jacket over her shoulders.

She looked up with tears in her eyes. “Sam, the water! And there’s so much glass. It hurts.”

A deep pain and grief that he hadn’t felt in years threatened to swallow Sam whole. “Oh, baby,” he said, at last throwing his arms around her. “It’s not real. It happened a long time ago.”

“I can’t breathe. There’s too much water.” Her words were slow and slurred. Despite that, the picture she painted was horrifying.

The memories all flashed before his eyes like it had happened yesterday. But he refused to go under. Not now.

Sam allowed himself to comfort her and be comforted by her. In this one thing, they were together. He held her as close as he had dreamed for years, yet not truly believing that this was actually happening. She smelled just the same, and the way her body curved into his hadn’t changed at all.

Sam held her like that for an immeasurable time. It felt both like an eternity and mere seconds all at once. A crazed traveller wouldn’t be more desperate for an Oasis than Sam felt for her touch. And knowing that this would end soon, that these were stolen moments made it heaven and hell at the same time.

“Y/N,” he tried again. “We need to get you home.” I need to get you home.

She didn’t reply.

“Are you asleep?”

“Yes!” She muttered and in spite everything Sam had to stifle a laugh. 

She had no footwear on, after getting herself out of those insane shoes. Sam removed his flip flops and slid them under her feet. They were way too big, but it was better than nothing. 

“Up you come.” He hoisted her slowly to her feet.

“Whoa!” She said, “everything is spinning so fast.”

“Just hold on to me. The spinning will go away.” He guided her slowly. “This way now.”

Her grasp on his shoulder slipped, pulling his shirt down with him.

“Oooohhh fancy,” she snickered, trying to touch the thin chain around his neck.

Sam fixed his shirt with the other hand so it wasn’t visible. She didn’t need to know.

It must look absurd, the two of them walking down the street. Sam, barefoot, carrying a pair of her heels in one hand and holding her by the waist with the other. Meanwhile, Y/N was humming lightly to herself, giggling at silly things, slipping and sliding in his flip flops.

At long last, they reached the address that Pam had given. Sam knew the building, he walked past it everyday to get home. The building had a solid, high compound wall, covered in vines. Keeping a tight hold on Y/N, he pushed the wrought iron gate. It creaked as it opened, leaving Sam staring at a beautiful front yard. There was curving shrubbery around the small circular garden and a mermaid shaped fountain flowing water in a circular basin with seating around it.

“Hahahaaa Judgy Judy isn’t too pleased with us,” Y/N told him sagely. “She hates people who drink even more than people who turn up late.”

“Why did you drink anyway?” He asked. “You don’t even like doing it.”

Y/N broke off, stumbling into the path. She glared at him. “Oh, so it’s okay for you to go out on dates with other people but it’s not okay for me to drink?”

That’s what she thought? That he had been in the bar for a date? Was that why she had drank?

Sam’s mind was reeling. If what she was saying was true, it meant that it mattered to her what Sam did or didn’t do with his life. Unless she still cared.

“You really think I would do that?” Abruptly, he was angry. If she cared enough to be mad with him, why had she left him to begin with?

Y/N had already moved on from the conversation. She was staring up at the mermaid’s face.

“Sam? You remember that time we went to the fair and rode the ferris wheel?”

He did remember. “You fainted immediately after.”

“Yeah, this feels exactly like that…” Y/N staggered on the spot and Sam rushed to catch her. The minute his hands found her arm, she threw up spectacularly on the front of his shirt, retching till there wasn’t anything left. Then, she promptly passed out in his arms.

He stood there for a second, looking about him, but no help was going to arrive at 2 in the night.

This was bad, very very bad. He had hoped to drop her home and then go back to his own place to wallow about how unfair the world was. What was he supposed to do now?

He had no clue if she stayed by herself. He couldn’t just leave her by herself when she was sick.

Slowly, he led her to the seating around the fountain. She laid down on it, groaning lightly.  

Sam removed his shirt, bundled it up and using some of the water from the fountain, wiped the puke from his jeans and Y/N’s feet along with his flip flops. Then he bent down and swooped her in his arms, carrying her inside the building. Getting into the lift and to her apartment was easy enough. Wrestling the key out of the purse and then unlocking the door all the while supporting her wasn’t so much.

It was pretty clear to Sam that there was no one else in the apartment when he entered. All that noise would have brought someone out by now. He barely looked at the living room, before laying Y/N down on the sofa there. There was a kitchenette to the right side. Sam poured a glass of water, added a spoon of sugar and a pinch of salt after looking through the jars. He walked back to where Y/N was curled up on the sofa and coaxed her to drink it.

She made a face, refusing to take a sip.

“Trust me, you’ll thank me tomorrow.”

“No.”

She was so stubborn sometimes. “Please? For me?”

“For you?” Her expression was guileless, it was almost his undoing, but Sam pushed on. “Yes, for me.”

She took the glass from him and downed it in one go, distaste clear on her expression.

The phone started ringing right when she put the glass down. Sam had to fish it from her purse. The caller ID read ‘Pamela Barnes.’

“Here,” Sam handed the phone to Y/N. “It’s for you.”

“Hello!” She sang. “Yeah, yeah… I’m home…”

Sam didn’t hang around for the rest of the conversation. He returned the glass to the kitchen and made more of the Sugar-salt solution in a bottle.

Y/N was idly playing with a lock of her hair.

“Can we go to bed now? Please?” She mumbled drowsily.

“You,” Sam stressed “are going to bed. Which one is your room?”

Sleepily, she pointed towards the door next to the kitchenette. He lifted her once more in his arm, thinking how bizarre all of this was as he walked towards the room. It felt nothing short of euphoric to hold her like this, like he was on some sort of wild once in a lifetime adventure, even if touching her like this used to be normal for him once upon a time. He gently laid her down on the bed. She stretched out on the sheets immediately, a smile on her lips.

He could have stared and stared. Sam decided to take one long look at her, memorising the exact color of her hair, the fullness of her lips and the rhythm of her breaths. Just as he turned to leave, Y/N’s hand shot out to grab the hem of his T-shirt.

“Why? Why did it happen to us?” She said, her face drawn in lines of anguish. “We were good people. You still are. Then, why?”

Sam took a deep breath. “Because life isn’t fair. You of all people should know that by this point. And I’ve hardly been a good person since.” 

“Shhhhh….” She put a finger to her lip. “You’re the best, Sam. You always have been.”

“Then why did you leave me? Why couldn’t you trust me enough to stay? Have enough faith in me to know that I could make it okay for us? I loved you more than anything, Y/N. And you left me anyway.” He knew full well that she wouldn’t remember a thing in the morning, she was barely even listening now. So how did it matter what he said?

“Don’t go,” she moaned. 

“Y/N… you know I can’t stay.”

“Please… Nothing’s right when you’re not here.”

In an odd twisted way, it was the truth. Nothing was right when she wasn’t with him.

“Please, Sam,” she sighed. “Don’t leave me. Promise me.”

He gave in. How could he not? “I promise,” he said finally. “I’ll stay tonight.” 

She smiled contentedly and her breathing evened out soon after.

Slowly, Sam disentangled his t-shirt from his grip.

In the bathroom, he washed his bundled up shirt, cleaning it completely, then used it to wash off whatever was left on his jeans and t-shirt. Thankfully, Y/N’s clothes hadn’t been spoilt and didn’t need any cleaning. The apartment had a beautiful balcony that overlooked the garden below. He hung his shirt on the railing to dry it in the breeze. 

Sam checked on Y/N once more under the guise of placing the water bottle next to her bed. She was splayed wildly now. The straps of her blouse had slid further down her arm, revealing the tops of her breasts. He looked away. As lightly as he could, Sam freed the covers from beneath her and drew them over her, tucking her comfortably underneath them. Then he made his way to the living room sofa, closing Y/N’s bedroom door after her. 

The sofa was much too small to accommodate him, but Sam managed to lie on his back, legs folded and body wedged between the two armrests. After a while of twisting and turning, he rested his head on one armrest and threw his legs over the other, staring at the apartment walls and decorations. Most of it was too delicate, like the filigree on the curtains and the carved screens dividing part of the kitchenette from the rest of the living room. That certainly wasn’t Y/N’s taste. Either it came with the apartment or her room mate had put it there. There were some things, however, that were distinctly Y/N- the flowers and plants in the balcony, the solid wood coffee stand and the classy oven. The little China decorating the kitchen bar must’ve been her grandmothers. Nothing… absolutely nothing in the house proved that he had ever played a part in her life. Sam decidedly curbed the disappointment and bitterness he felt.

So, she had moved on from him. Hadn’t the past month taught him as much? 

A month ago he wouldn’t have believed that he’d end up a room away from a very drunk Y/N. So close, yet so far. He closed his eyes, recalling how it felt to have her arms around his waist, feel the press of her body against his as he lifted her in his arms. He could live out the rest of his life holding onto those memories, even if it never happened again, even if she never remembered it…

“Who the fuck are you?”

Sam’s eyes snapped open. A girl was standing over him with a ferocious expression.

He sat up groggily, disoriented about his surroundings. Who was this girl?

“I asked who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my apartment?”

Sam groaned, blinking his eyes in the still dark room. “I’m Sam. I helped Y/N home last night.”

“Where’s she? Is she okay?” 

The shift in her tone was sudden, from angry to concerned.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Sam yawned. “She just had too much to drink.”

“And how do you know her?”

“I’m her- “ It physically ached to not say it. “I’m her… friend.”

The girl, who Sam assumed was her roommate, Meg, raised an eyebrow. “Friend, huh? How come she’s never talked about you before?”

Because she doesn’t care anymore.

Suddenly Sam was very tired. “Look, I’ve known her since a long time. We lost touch a while ago. I met her at college.”

Meg didn’t seem very convinced. She harrumphed and crossed her arms.

“I’m going to head out, now that you’re back,” he said, standing up and straightening his back. It was completely screwed. He walked over to the balcony and retrieved his now dried shirt. Meg eyed it dubiously.

“You didn’t try anything with her, did you?”

Again, the irony of someone else being concerned that he of all people would try to harm Y/N twisted his mouth into a bitter smirk.

“Look, mister…” Meg started and Sam put his hands up. He was too exhausted to hold this argument. 

“I just put her to bed. That’s all,” he said. “Heads up, she has terrible hangovers. You might want to keep the bathroom accessible and the Advil ready.”

With that he stalked out of the room. 

It wasn’t a long walk to his home from there, barely even five minutes, but Sam’s head was buzzing with thoughts. Last night everything had been so hurried and he was the only one who could have helped her out. But what now?

He and Y/N had barely started talking. He still didn’t know what was going on in her head. Last night had changed all of that, at least for him. If it had been hard to not think about her before, it was damn well impossible now. She was consuming his every thought, shadowing every emotion. What if she remembered everything she had said last night? What if she’d actually meant those things?

“Don’t go” 

“Please… Nothing’s right when you’re not here.”

“Please, Sam, Don’t leave me. Promise me.”

Each time his name had fallen off her lips, it was like she was resurrecting his long dead heartbeat. He wanted to dare, he wanted to hope and believe that there was some chance.

But what if she didn’t remember anything at all? Sam knew that he would die inside if that happened. It was one thing to not feel hope, and another altogether to kill it with one's own hands. 

His mind was a cacophony of noises and emotions all warring against each other as he reached his house. On the door steps, sat a solitary figure, waiting for him.

“Jody?”

The sky was just starting to lighten. What was she doing here?

He frowned at her, wondering what on earth could have brought her here this early in the morning. She stared back evenly; there was none of the usual warmth in her eyes, instead they were full of distrust and disappointment.

“Jody, is everything okay?” 

“You tell me, Winchester,” she said, coming to stand right next to him, her stature severe.

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“Really?” She spat. “Don’t you think you’ve been acting differently? At first I thought, being by yourself was getting to you.”

“Jody, I seriously don’t understand.”

“Fine I’ll cut to the chase. Where were you last night?”

It was the last thing Sam had expected. He couldn't tell her the truth. Where would he even start with the truth? “I was-”

She raised her hand and Sam flinched at the hostile expression on her face. “Save it, Sam. I know exactly what you were doing last night. I saw you sitting on the bench outside the bar with that girl.”

Sam jerked upright.

“I’ve known you for years, Sam. Years. I taught you everything I knew. I’ve never been prouder of any student I’ve had and this is what you do with all that trust? This is how you abuse your power?”

Her words rang louder than they should have in Sam’s ears. “Jody-”

“Don’t even try to make excuses. At first, when I saw her in your office, I didn’t think anything of it. Sure, she looked close to tears, but a lot of freshmen are always anxious. But then I saw you in the library with her. The way you looked at Y/N? That’s not how a teacher looks at their student!” Jody looked disgusted. “And tonight? Y/N was clearly drunk, for Christ’s sake! How can you possibly justify the way you were holding her?”

“Because she’s my WIFE!” He shouted, breathing hard, feeling the heat coming off of his face. “I married her and I love her!” 

It was beyond cathartic to finally say those words out loud. Up until this point Sam hadn’t realised that since he had seen Y/N in his class, those very words had been strangling him, poisoning him. Now that he had finally said them, the strength in his legs gave away. He sat down on the steps with a thud.

Jody’s face had gone very white. “Sam…”

“Tonight was nothing more than me helping a girl who needed it. Nothing more than that,” he said through gritted teeth, blinking rapidly at the wetness on his lashes. “You know I respect you, Jody, but even you don’t get to tell me if I can hold my own wife.”

She sat down next to him, now at a complete loss of words. “Is this the same girl…?”

Sam nodded, unable to form words.

“Sam, I’m so sorry,” she said, drawing him close. “I didn’t know. You should have said something.”

“Said what?” He said through a thick throat, angry with himself for showing weakness now when he had held it together for so long. “That my wife who walked out on me years ago because she didn't trust me to save our marriage is suddenly back? As my student after six years? Is that what I should have declared when I didn’t even know if she wanted to see my face? Is that what I should’ve said?”

“Oh, you sweet boy. I’m so sorry,” Jody ran her hands over his shoulders. “Sorry that you’ve been suffering and sorry that I doubted you at all. You don’t need to say anything now. C’mere.”

Firmly she drew him towards her and threw her arms around his neck. Sam hugged back, closing his eyes tightly so that the tears rolled over into the cotton of her shirt.

“Shhhh…” she said. “It’s going to be alright.”

Sam didn’t know if there was any truth in her words, but he allowed himself to be comforted, allowed himself to draw some warmth from his oldest friend here. Allowed himself to start healing.

**************************  

A/N 2: *Wiggles eyebrows* Who all saw it coming? ;)

PLEASE let me know what you think of this story?

If you want be tagged, you can send me an ask or add yourself to the taglist here.

Or here’s my side blog @percywinchester27-writes. You can give that blog a follow and turn the notifications on to know about updates.

GIF Credit (It wouldn’t let me put it before the cut :/)

ALLU taglist

@feelmyroarrrr  @gabavaldman​  @im-a-light-child​  @cosicas-cuquis​  @bllyjianne​  @hoboal87​  @i-is-for-inspiring​  @daughterleftbehind​  @wackiekebab​  @mylovelydame21​   @dancing-the-hellfire-rumba​  @superbadassnatural​  @bellastellaluna​  @babypink224221​  @badlittlehabit99​  @anathewierdo​  @sams-bubblegum-bitch​  @damn-it-now-im-obsessed  @fandomoverdose666​  @superstarmarvel​  @atc74​  @aiofheavenandhell​  @rebel-author-chick​  @death-unbecomes-you​  @cookiechipdough​  @kbl1313​  @linki-locks11​  @miss-nerd95​  @sunflowers-n-rocknroll​  @stoneyggirl​  @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​

[m0chisenpai]

Hong Kong Garden

Oberyn Martell x young!Reader x Ellaria Sand

Chapter 1

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,969

Oberyn Martell loved a party. He flourished in them and frequented them often as well. But this one in particular made him bitter. He would love nothing more than to leave and return to his home beneath the sun where his paramour and beloved Sands were. Ellaria was forced to stay in Dorne while his brother Doran practically dragged him to the celebration of House Tyrell’s youngest lady. 

The celebration took place not in Highgarden but in another castle not far from the home of the Tyrell family. Lord Mathias Tyrell sat beside his brother and mother overlooking the festivities of his daughter's celebration. Acrobats twisted their bodies on raised platforms, Fools made groups of nobles chortle, a glorious feast was spread for the taking, and tables filled with riches and treasures were piled high for the young Lady Tyrell.

The young woman was to turn 20 on her Name Day, but Oberyn had no desire to spare any kindness to the roses. Oberyn didn’t even spare the girl a glance nor catch a glimpse of her. According to his brother they needed to show some courtesy as they were there for much more than a celebration. They were there for diplomacy to seal the rift between the Tyrells and Martells. 

When his brother cut him from her bitter thoughts Oberyn looked from his cup of wine.

“What did you say?”

Doran exhaled through his nose, “I said have you paid your respects to Lady Y/N?”

“Is it not your job as the oldest to partake in diplomacy?”

“It is much more than diplomacy, Oberyn. The girl did not choose to be born of roses, give her just a bit of your kindness.”

And with a childish whine and heavy sigh Oberyn approached the Tyrell’s table which seemed to overlook the many others. Damn his brother for his wisdom. 

“Prince Oberyn”

“Lady Olenna” he bowed to the older woman one arm behind his back “I wish to give wishes and blessings to the young Lady of the house.”

“Ah, you have just missed her. She ran off in the gardens again, I’ll have her fetched for.” Her father spoke up this time over a glass of wine. Lord Mathias lived up to the rumors of being the living embodiment of greed. His fingers adorned with intricate rings, his robes made of the finest silks with intricate golden designs on red fabric. 

“Allow me to retrieve her then perhaps?”

“And just what are you intending if you find my daughter Prince Oberyn?” The dark haired maiden finally spoke up. She was nearly as beautiful as his dear paramour with skin just as bronze only a shade darker, and her curly hair tamed into a high bun with intricate hair ornaments. 

Unlike her husband she gave the young Prince a warm smile which he returned. 

“Hopefully bestow upon her a simple  blessing for her name day my lady.” Oberyn Martell bowed his head in respects as one of the servant boys led him to the entrance of the garden.

The garden was its own unique maze of beautiful plants and flowers that flourished under the warm sun. Had the young prince’s heart not been bitter with hatred for the family he would come to love this castle of the Reach.  A hand unconsciously brushed against one of the flower delicate petals and he uprooted the flower holding it to his nose and releasing it upon hearing hushed voices.

A bell like laugh accompanied by light moans led the prince to what he could only assume to be the heart of the garden. The servant boy bowed to the prince and quickly left. A beautiful fountain made of stone with delicate patterns and two statues of goddess-like women in the middle. And in front of this beautiful fountain was the young Lady of this castle. 

To say Lady Y/N was a mere Tyrell would be an insult. Yes the young Martell hated everything living being bearing the last name Tyrell, but it was hard to believe this beautiful, young, vibrant creature shared the last name. 

The young woman was a nymph. Little flowers stuck in her beautiful thick curls, her skin looked to be blessed by the very suns of Dorne like her mothers, and her beautiful plump lips were ensnared by a woman far from her age. Her fingers curled into the young Tyrell’s curls. For a moment he imagined the pasty elder woman was his beautiful Ellaria. Her nimble fingers curled into the young Tyrell’s hair. Her gleaming eyes gazing into Oberyn who would watch with hungry eyes.

“My lady please” Lady Tyrell’s gasps ended his fantasies. Oje would blindly assume Lady Tyrell was truly indulging in this mysterious maidens lips, but truth be told he could see far from it. Her face was blank, not a crease to her brow and those light gasps and moans were far from real pleasure. The woman’s lips nipped at the base of her neck leaving very faint dark marks and stopped at a delicate lace blue ribbon that was pulled by her skillful lips pooling in the young girl's lap.

“Hush now darling girl, allow me to bestow this gift unto you” The elder lady kissed her way back to her lips. Her hands slid a small jewelry box into the nymphs lap catching her attention. She lifted it and the young Tyrel lifted out a necklace adorned by diamonds glistening in the sun. 

“Diamonds” her eyes glistened at the sparkling jewelry, “my lady, you didn’t have to! ”

“What better way to celebrate the turning of a new age.” She slid the necklace around the girl's neck pecking along her shoulders as she did so “and not only this. I have plenty more to come in just two weeks time.”

Lady Tyrell gasped, pressing her hand against her diamond covered chest, “you spoil me.” She wasn’t complaining. She loved her Name Day for it was a day she got to enjoy watching lords and lady’s turn into mere mindless fools throwing treasure upon treasure at her feet to get a mere fraction of her affection. She had more than enough diamonds to spare. But what’s the harm in building her collection? Her mother took to taking care of the gardens to satiate her boredom, she just happened to collect hearts and diamonds for her own amusement. 

“No my dear girl you spoil me. Now enjoy your date of birth darling girl. My father awaits me.” With one last kiss the woman stood leaving Lady Tyrell alone in front of the fountain looking through the sparking gems.

Finally Oberyn stepped out after calling the beating in his chest, and trying to ignore the fire in the pit to this stomach “Lady Tyrell.”

“Lord Martell” quickly slid the jewelry box off her lap and fussed with the collar of her dress as the man stopped in front of the young girl. She’d been caught twice, both by her grandmother who cared little about her granddaughter being caught with a woman in bed. 

Today would be the first time she was caught, and not scolded. Instead the Martell gave her a smile which she was wary of. She knew men liked pretty things. And she knew men knew how to get everything their gluttonous little hearts desired.

“Please, Oberyn when it is just the two of us.” With a smile she patted the stone of the mountain and Oberyn took her invitation to sit beside her on the fountain. His hands carefully scooped the discarded ribbon stuffing them into the pockets of his trousers. 

“As you wish then, Oberyn” she tilted her head to look up at him “I thought your older brother bestowed his gift. The wine of Dorne tastes like a gift from the gods.”

“Ah yes, I unfortunately was not able to witness your tasting of it yet.”

“Perhaps you shall soon I’ve yet to taste it” she grinned looking back into the water where she watched a loose petal drift into the water. 

“You indulge in the delights of the gods I see.” 

She tilted her head to gaze up at the prince through full eyelashes, “should I not? I am of ripe breeding age as my father likes to remind me. Soon I will be married off to an old fool to be his treasure. Until that day comes I must have my own fill until I am bound to another” Though her words were solemn she held no fear, no anger, no sadness. Just a smile as she observed a pair of diamond earrings in the glowing sunlight.

She knew she was doomed to a loveless marriage. But she never feared it because she would merely amuse her fool of a husband in exchange for every single thing her heart desired while she found warmth in the arms of many lovers. Her grandmother had been preparing her for this day since she had her first flowering and her body blossomed from a childs to a woman’s body. She taught her how to turn from stable boys and milk maids to Lords and Lady’s and get much more than a quick fuck. She learned how to receive gorgeous silks, secret bonds, and beauties from the Seven Kingdoms in exchange for warmth in her bed and her lips keeping the secrets she knew from falling into the wrong hands.

“You would love Done. There one is free to love whoever and how many one chooses, and follow their own hearts desires” as he spoke the girl's eyes briefly met Oberyn’s “I wonder what your heart desires.”

“Love is temporary, and for fools” She returned the jewels back into the box “no one will truly be able to fulfill my heart's desire. I am too much for any man, and woman. But a paradise free from shame sounds like somewhere I would love to escape to.”

The longing look in her eyes made the prince's lips turn into a smirk. Her gaze shifted to look up at the beautifully carved statues of the fountain, and Oberyn shifted his own eyes to look up at it.

“If I may ask, did your father have this fountain built?”

“When I was no more than five. I begged for something to bring life into these gardens and my father had this fountain created. The statues are of resemblance to my mother and I.”

That was the day her grandmother taught her the power of the smile, and the power of reading one's eyes. She was merely six and with a bat of her lashes, a pout upon her lips, and a few sweet words her father asked whom she would like to be in the fountain.

“A beautiful woman indeed, though not born here?” 

“Somewhere among Westeros I believe” her fingers dropped the diamond necklace and she stood cradling the box of jewelry in her arms “but surely you did not come here to hear my tales of woe. Come share a glass with me. I wish to see if the rumors of Dorne’s wine are merely tall tales.”

“If it is your wish I shall grant.”

”Then I have but one more wish to ask of you Oberyn” she pulled a flower from her locks to place it behind the prince's ear, her hand slid to rest just below his golden necklace “join me at dawn tomorrow here in the gardens. I wish to hear about life outside these old walls.”

She caught her hand placing it right where his heart was. And in that moment Y/N Tyrell could not read the look in the Prince’s fiery eyes. Nor could she decipher the next sentence that fell from his lips. 

“You shall have it, my flower.”

[deputy-videogamer]

Gemini |Part 2|

Pairing: Geralt x Reader, Yennefer x Reader, Geralt x Reader x Yennefer

Summary: The White Wolf has come, but so has a certain lavender eyed witch. Both has gotten word about the poor princess that has 'lost her mind and out for blood'. But there is more that meets the eye

Part 1 Part 3

"So what's this contract about again?" Jaskier asked Geralt for the- actually Geralt lost count on how many times Jaskier had asked about the contract.

"For the last time Jaskier, this contract is about a cursed princess that needs to be slay." Geralt hissed out of annoyance.

"Why do you need to slay her? Is she cursed?" Ciri asked. She has been traveling with Geralt throughout his journey ever since they finally met in the forest.

"Something like that. The girl was borned with powers, but as she grew her powers made her lose her mind." He briefly explained to the duo.

“Then the king wants you to release her daughter from the curse then?” Geralt didn’t respond. The king requested the opposite for Geralt; he wanted her to kill his daughter.

“Something like that. Let's just go, we're almost there.”

It wasn’t long before the trio had reached the king’s castle. Waiting for them was the king’s mage who waited for his arrival.

“Geralt of Rivia, We've been expecting you." The old man greeted the trio. "Please, come this way."

The three had followed the old man through the castle. It was only then Geralt took notice of the painting that was hung. 

"I'm guessing that's the queen and her daughter." The mage froze in his steps. Geralt had taken note on how he was hesitant when he mentioned the queen and the former princess.

The mage turned towards him and gave him a tight smile. "You aren't a wrong witcher. Lovely isn't she?" The mage was referring to the queen in hopes to avoid talking about the princess.

"Oh yes lovely indeed. Shame that she married a king I would've loved to meet." Jaskier flirted, not caring that the royal mage was with them.

"Their marriage was one way anyway. The queen died after giving birth to her daughter. May her soul rest and find someone better than the king." This was what Geralt was surprised at.

"You seem to hate the king." Once again the mage froze up when he realized his mistake. The mage tried to think of a way to answer him, but the sounds of heels clicking against the wooden floors had interrupted him.

Looking at the direction where the sound of heels were clicking at. All three pairs of eyes looked up to see who was heading towards them, only two out of the three pairs had already known who she was.

Geralt couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a familiar raven hair female.

"Yennefer." The words almost sounded unfamiliar to him.

How long has it been since he last saw her familiar purple eyes, the sweet smell of gooseberries and lilacs. The guilt and memories of them on the hill had flashed through his eyes.

He now wishes that he could have punched his past self for saying those things to her for she wasn't wrong when she stated that he had lost her. 

The pair of lavender eyes met his golden cat like eyes. It was then the air around had suddenly felt suffocating and time had stopped all around him.

“Hello, Geralt.” Her sickly sweet voice almost made him feel sick. 

“Is this the Yennefer you mention?” Ciri innocent eyes gazed on the raven beauty. In return Yennefer looked at the small princess with shock; she then had a sharp gazed on why a child was with him, in return he gave her a look that he explained to her later about Ciri. 

“I thought you needed a Witcher?” Geralt turned his attention back at the mage.

“Yes, but when due to the former princess…..um..condition there could be a chance that she could attack you. So I requested the help of Yennefer.” The mage answered.

“He’s not wrong. I assume Lucius has already informed you about the job right?” Yennefer looked at the mage or Lucius.

“I was about to get there.” Lucius cleared his throat and briefly explained about the situation.

Apparently, when the princess had turned 12, she started to lose control of her magic. The mages tried their best to help her regain control of her powers, which had worsened her case leading to her magic to take control over her mind. She had killed the people in the case including her own father if it was for Lucius stopping her rampage, her father’s guard tried to seize her, but she had ran into the forest for refuge.

“Has anyone entered the forest?” Geralt questions Lucius. There was something about that story that didn’t make sense to him. From the story to Lucius' tone about the voice it all sounded all too suspicious.

“Many mages including myself have tried to enter the forest, all of them have either ended up dead or seriously injured. We believe that she has support from the creatures in the forest.”

“Is that even possible?” Ciri’s innocent eyes stared at Geralt where he let out a simple ‘yes’ to his daughter.

“If you have any more questions that will be answered later, I have already let the king wait enough. I’ll let you bard and your…..” Lucius looked down at Ciri. “Daughter to their rooms once we reach his studies. Come.” 

Unaware that a crow had overheard their conversation, while its blood red eyes had stalked their every movement. Before soaring its way out of the widow’s ledge then disappearing back into the forest. The raven gilded down on a branch-like hand, the silent monster stared down at his black feather minion as it silently cawed to his master. The creature didn’t say anything, the only gesture it had made was stroking his minions body before the creature had left to return spying on the Witcher’s group. 

The forest creature had watched the raven fly away, then walk towards the center of the forest. During his little journey he encounters a few nymphs, everytime he encounters a new nymph he silently grunts about what his crow has seen in the castle. Their facial expressions had turned grm, each one knew a witcher was very serious, but teaming up with one of the most powerful sorceresses had made things much worse. Some of the nymphs had disappeared to warn other woodling creatures about the upcoming trouble while others had started to prepare attacks. 

It wasn’t long that the creature had reached his destination. In one of the trees there was a little treehouse that was built within the branches of the great plant. The creature could hear a small humming coming inside the structure. The woodling creature had summoned one of his ravens to grab the attention of the person inside. A head had popped up as (e/c) eyes were peeking down on him.

“Oh! Hello there, Aspen.” You used a rope to get down to greet your strange creature friend. Unlike your godling and nymph friends, your skull head friend had no ability to talk. How he communicated was by drawing pictures in the dirt. 

“So what brings you here?” Aspen had used his branch fingers to start drawing in the dirt.

His twing finger had drawn five people, one had long hair wearing a dress, another had long hair but he had a sword strapped on his back. The third one was a bard since he had a lyre on his back, the fourth one you immediately knew was Lucius one of your many teacher you had taught you to control your powers when you were younger, he was also one of the few who didn’t create the potion that stole your powers The last figure was strange, unlike the other people this one was more childlike. It made you wonder who would bring a child with them?

 “These people are with Lucius?” You guessed at his drawing, Aspen then drew a crown next to the group of people. “Oh, my father had requested more help to kill me right?” His skull head nodded.

“Do you know them by any chance?” He then drew the woman and the long hair man only this time, the woman had sparks surrounding her while the man had drawn his sword out as there was a beast in front of him. 

“The long hair woman is a sorceress and the man is a slayer of some sort or more precisely the Witcher right ?” Aspen nodded again. “Why bring a bard and a child though? Nevermind that it seems like my father is desperate to kill at this point if he is bringing a slayer and sorceress.” You growled at the last part.

Aspen turned his skull head to you. Your eyes had started to become red signifying that your other personality is coming out.

“If that crown bastard thinks that he can just kill me because he now has a slayer and a mage on his side. He is dead wrong. I have killed many hunters who have tried to kill me all have ended up dead. “ You walked towards a tree that was filled with multiple daggers embedded in the bark with a carving of your father on it.

“Well...let those two come here if they dare. Besides~ it’s been a while since I had visitors in my forest. I think I know exactly where I place their bodies~”  You threw the knife straight dead center into your father’s head.

 “Thanks for the information Aspen, now that I know of my lovely visitors I should prepare a welcoming gift for them.” You were about to climb back up into your home when you turned back to your friend. “Before I leave...how did my friends react to it?”

Aspen slides his thin twig finger across his neck. “I see...hmm protective as always.” Your eyes reverted back to your original eye color.

“Thanks for visiting Aspen, next time you visit I’ll make you some fruit pie.” Aspen watched as you climbed back to your home as Aspen started to leave. Unaware that he had made it to the edge of the forest where it reached the edge of the kingdom. He noticed that there were a few farmers trending their live stocks, as much as he wanted to attack and devour the flesh off their bones, he knew how much you loved your people even after your banishment. He summoned a flock of crows around him as he pointed to the nearest farmer.

He won’t actually kill them, but if he wanted to make sure that the Witcher and the sorceress doesn’t go after you he had to make some kind of reuss to let them focus on him instead of you. He watched as the crows had attacked the poor farmer before another one had come to his aid, he then ordered the flock to attack another farmer in the area.

He only hopes that this will be enough to attract the duo. And if that doesn’t work, there are more woodling creatures who will risk their lives to protect the ‘mad princess’.

TAGS

If you want to be tag for up coming chapter or previews let me know.

@whitewolfandthefox​ @dreaming-about-starfleet​ @seanh-boredom​

[schleierkauz]

The Color of Revenge: Chapter 2

Here we go again! Please tell me if you find any mistakes, share your thoughts and enjoy! <3

Chapter 2: Five good Years

The night sky was burning. Dustfinger loved to set fire to the darkness. His flames were red flowers, blooming between the stars like poppies in a field of bittercress.

Fenoglio stood at the window and enjoyed the view. He’d moved back under Minerva’s roof a few months ago. The simple chamber was still the best home and the view was so much more spectacular than that from the castle – especially during nights like these when Dustfinger was setting the stage for his beautiful wife. Whenever Roxane danced for her Ugliness, she did it under a fiery sky.

Dustfinger and Roxane… Fenoglio had given up on calling them his creation a long time ago. He no longer believed that it was possible to create people and the worlds they lived in with nothing but words. It was possible to trap them, yes. Catch their echo in the sounds of consonants and vowels. But create them? No. Life itself wasn’t born out of ink. The fingers of a giant had made Fenoglio humble, a forest track littered with the corpses of soldiers and, crucially, the daughter of the Adderhead, whose wise regency he hadn’t foreseen when he’d written about a lonely, ugly little girl.

But even if the fabric of this world wove itself (or had a weaver who preferred to stay hidden), Fenoglio still liked to hear people call him the Inkweaver, their voices full of awe (or a little afraid). The title stroked his ego and after all: From time to time he still managed to add some embroidery to the cloth of this world.

There! Dustfinger’s flowers spat fiery seeds into the dark velvet of the night. A swarm of swans flew across the sky, their wings emitting white sparks. The Fire-Dancer was very creative when it came to staging the performances of his wife. Violante asked Roxane to dance for her almost every month. The gates of Ombra’s castle were wide open during those nights and people came from far and wide to see the woman who danced with the fire.

A few times Fenoglio had been part of the crowd but these days he preferred the view from Minerva’s window. It was still cold even though March was almost over and Fenoglio’s aging bones resisted every word he wrote to keep the rheumatism out of his joints.

Roxane’s herbs were way more effective, which was more proof of the true roots and realities of this world. Ah, Inkweaver, you’re getting old. That’s not pleasant anywhere and Fenoglio longed for no place but Ombra. Sometimes he did miss his newspaper in the mornings or the strong coffee he used to enjoy three times a day. The fact that the coffee bean had yet to find its way to Ombra was outrageous. Wine and tea – that was all anyone could find at the markets. Ah well, one can’t have all. Unfortunately, Fenoglio had always struggled to accept that rule.

He frowned when there was a knock at his door. It sounded as if someone was striking the wood with the neck of a bottle and without much patience. Heavens, this glass man would splinter himself one day!

Fenoglio still maintained that the glass men were his creation, even though Meggie liked to tease him with the wild ones who lived in the woods surrounding Ombra. Admittedly, they were not interested in sharpening quills and disproved his claim that he had invented the species solely to assist poets. But no matter who had created them: It was a fact that their ridiculous high voices were so shrill it was almost impossible to understand them. Especially when they were excited. Which was a good reason to agree with the widely held opinion that glass men in general were a ridiculous concept and completely unnecessary.

“Slow down! How many times do I have to tell you?“ Fenoglio snapped at Rosenquartz while he closed the door behind him. “What is it this time? A cow pie on the street? A chicken that tried to peck you? One day you will shatter losing your mind over some inanity!”

Outside, Dustfinger was celebrating his wife’s talent and beauty by letting the fire paint Roxane’s dancing silhouette into the sky. Her hand reached for the moon as if it were a silver ball.

“That smoky gray louse…!“ Rosenquartz panted. “I was so sure I’d never have to see his ugly face again. Nothing but a pile of broken glass, that’s what he deserves to be! Glass shards in the excrement of a mangy dog!”

Who was he talking about? The glass man he was competing with over the favor of the glass woman Rosenquartz had been courting for weeks? Although, no, that one wasn’t gray but violet (an unfortunate color for a glass man).

“Well, I hope you’re not planning on starting any fights with your rival,“ Fenoglio said and stepped back to the window. “With broken arms you would be useless for me as well as for you pale yellow crush.”

The needle holder who had caught Rosenquartz eye was working for Beatrice Sommavilla, a seamstress who had turned the heads of almost all the human men in Ombra. Even Fenoglio had written her love poems… There was no fool like an old fool…

“You’re not listening! As usual!“ Rosenquartz hissed as he climbed onto the chest of drawers under the window with the agility of a spider. He hated having to look up at Fenoglio when they argued – which, of course, he still had to do from his new position. Ridiculous little creature. But his climbing skills were truly exceptional.

“Your kind never listens!“ he shrieked. “All that space in your plump heads – wasted! You want to know what it is? I saw Ironstone! I hope you still remember that name? He was Orpheus’ glass man! He was sitting on the shoulder of a man who looked even more devious than himself and he was staring at the Fire-Dancer like he was trying to burn holes into his skin!“

Outside, Dustfinger let his fire die and the night turned to ash.

“Nonsense, I’m sure you’re wrong.“ Fenoglio hated the tremor he could hear in his own voice. “One glass man looks like the next, that’s it. And god knows gray isn’t the rarest of colors.”

Rosenquartz gasped. “One glass man looks like the next?!“

The ensuing tirade about Fenoglio and the human race in general seemed endless. All that time Rosenquartz spent at the tavern by the market made him rebellious. The innkeeper kept a dozen tiny chairs on her counter, as well as thimbles filled with her cheapest wine. In return the glassy idiots wrote down all those titillating songs she wrote for the strolling players.

Rosenquartz was still throwing a fit over his human audacity. Oh, his shrill little voice! It cut right into Fenoglio’s old ears. But what if the glass man wasn’t wrong? The thought filled Fenoglio’s stomach with stones. He felt as if the seven little kids had come for him.

The last time he’d heard Orpheus’ name had been almost exactly five years ago, the day Meggie’s younger brother Dante had been born. Only then had Mortimer finally told them all the details of what had happened at the Castle in the Lake.

Five years…

They had celebrated Dante’s birthday three days ago. His mother had drawn all his favorite creatures for him (forest spirits, nymphs, glass men – and dogs) and his father had bound them into the most beautiful book ever owned by a five year old. His sister, who preferred needle and thread over words these days, had given him a tiny replica of the cloak the Black Prince wore. Meggie’s boyfriend Doria had whittled him a carriage that drove all by itself and Dustfinger… Yes, of course Dustfinger had made the boy forget all about those presents by sending him a dog made of fire.

Stones in his stomach…

Five years. Five gorgeous, magical years. No. Orpheus and his devious glass man were dead. That’s what Fenoglio had told himself during all those years whenever his thoughts had drifted towards the Cheeseface. He had to believe it.

Still, he spent a sleepless night. The sky above Ombra’s rooftops was alarmingly dark without Dustfinger’s fires and the morning was as pale and gray as the glass man who had stolen Fenoglio’s sleep.

Even Minerva’s children were still asleep when he saddled the horse the Black Prince had given him. The whole town was asleep and the hills he rode through were painted silver with dew. It clung to thousands of spiderwebs. Glimmering death traps…

Heavens, he tried his best to think a single positive thought but he just couldn’t come up with one!

Rosenquartz had already left last night to search for the man whose shoulder Ironstone had been sitting on. He would ask the other glass men to keep an eye out for the stranger and Fenoglio had sent messages to the Black Prince and Mortimer.

But he wanted to deliver the concerning news to Dustfinger in person. After all, there was no one Orpheus hated more than the Fire-Dancer. Not to mention the fact that Fenoglio never missed a chance to visit Roxane. Her beauty let him believe in the perfection of this world, if only for a few precious moments.

But Roxane wasn’t home when Fenoglio arrived at the plain house where she lived with Dustfinger. Of course. She liked to collect the herbs she traded with when the leaves were still damp with dew. Fenoglio had to admit that he missed the tasteless pills of his world whenever he drank Roxane’s bitter infusions – even though they often worked better. Roxane always sent knowing smiles his way that made his old cheeks blush.

Ah, her smile… Despite everything that had happened to him, Dustfinger could still count himself lucky. And not just because of the woman who loved him. Whoever had spun the thread of his destiny, the Fire-Dancer was absolutely magnificent since he had returned from the dead. A breathing flame, in peace with life and what came after.

He stood in front of the house with Jehan, Roxane’s son from her second marriage. Jehan was apprenticed to a blacksmith in Ombra. He already had a reputation of creating wonderful things out of iron. All the things his stepfather had taught him about fire probably helped.

Fenoglio was sure that they could see that he was bringing bad news. He still found himself searching Dustfinger’s face for the scars he had described so long ago - but the White Women had erased every trace of pain life had ever left in the Fire-Dancer’s features. In his face, Fenoglio found nothing but secrets he had no words for.

They listened silently as he told them about Rosenquartz’s discovery.

“We have to find the glass man,“ Jehan said “and find out if his master is still alive. And if he is, he has to tell us where he’s hiding.”

“How could you know if he’s telling the truth?“ Dustfingers gaze was even more mysterious since he’d returned from the White Women. It made Fenoglio self-conscious. I know everything about you, you old fool, it seemed to say.

“Oh, he will,“ Jehan said. “As soon as I hold him over my forge!” He must have inherited the hot temper from his biological father. Dustfinger just shook his head.

“Your mother wouldn’t like such methods one bit.“ A tiny flame grew in his hand.

“No. Should we find him, we have to pretend to let him go. That way, if Orpheus is still alive, he will lead us to him. All these years, I’ve searched for him in the fire. But it couldn’t find him – which means that if he’s really still alive, he fled to a land where my fire is blind.”

Stones in his stomach…

Fenoglio imagined wild places, foreign and dangerous. Lands that knew nothing of his words or Dustfinger’s fire. Automatically, he looked to the horizon. For the first time, the vastness waiting behind it made him feel afraid.

The flame in Dustfinger’s hand vanished. Ash painted the silhouette of a dancing woman onto his skin.

“I’ll talk to the Prince,“ he said. “Jehan is right. We have to find this glass man.”

Five years. They all felt it. A new story was stirring. A new one – yet the old one all the same.

(Next chapter)

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Blue Eyes Part 23

Summary: After the Garrison is shot up, the youngest Shelby daughter finds a new home in London. She strips herself of her last name and tries to live a peaceful life far away from her brothers’ chaos in Birmingham. But fate leads her right back into it after she runs into Alfie Solomons.

Part 23: Ella makes a decision to return to Alfie. 

         The ocean made Ella think about Margate and her confrontation with Alfie on the beach. It was a strange paradox because it felt like a lifetime ago but it was still so fresh in her memory. She sighed deeply and submerged her hands into the damp, cool sand. The coarse texture grounding her. It was as Isabel had taught her. To use nature to her advantage. It was uncanny how the prickly feeling of a piece of bark, a smooth stone, or the unbearable cold of a river would startle Ella back to her senses. To remind her that she didn’t want to be numb, she wanted to be alive.

           She had come out to the beach, about half a mile walk from where they’d camped, to make her decision. The Youngs had arrived the day before and offered to take Ella north with them if she so chose. Even Isabel offered to accompany her if she did decide to go north.

           Ella’s heart longed for Alfie but she didn’t want to make the choice based on their separation. There were plenty of times that she wanted to go home simply because she missed him so much it hurt. But she wasn’t there to escape him. She was there for a purpose, to find herself. The decision had to be based on whether she had truly come to terms with her losses.

           Mind still whirring, she stood up from the sand and walked to the shore’s edge. She waded through the water up to her shins, gathering her long skirt to her thighs to keep the fabric dry. The Atlantic was relentlessly chilly and the sharp stings of cold cleared her head within moments. She let her toes sink into the sand. The salty air whipped up around her, stirring up her hair and loose blouse.

           She didn’t see Lilac in her dreams anymore. She hadn’t dreamed of the foals either. They had moved beyond the fog, out of sight, to a different place. They were at peace. And so was she.  

~~~~~~~~~~~`

           “Ella Shelby!”

           On her return to camp from the beach, a man on a horse approached. Once he got close enough, she recognized the face from her past. Isaac was one of the Young boys. They ran into each other quite often at fairs. His brothers often tempted her brothers into boxing but Ella couldn’t recall who won the most.

           Isaac appeared to have grown into his awkward, gangly height. No doubt from being on the road his entire life.

           “How are you, Isaac?” Ella greeted politely.

           “Good,” The man pulled his horse up to walk beside Ella. “Heard you’ve been traveling with the Lees, finally leave Birmingham behind? Going back to your roots, aye?” He wondered.

           “I’ll be returning to London very soon.” She informed him firmly. Even though she'd only just made the decision to go back home, it felt concrete. It was a good indicator that she'd made the right choice already.

           “Thought you were gonna come up north with us.” He looked a tad disappointed at the news.

           “I’ve decided to return home.” The two approached the camp where Isabel was out with Roddy. “I’ve a husband to return to. It’s been a long time we’ve been apart.”

           “Married?” He snorted. “To think Ella Shelby actually got married. I never woulda believed it. Lashav, to think you were holding out for me all these years.” He pressed a hand to his heart and dismounted his horse.

           Ella rolled her eyes. “You’d be so lucky.”

           Isabel walked over, giving the Young man a look. “So keres?” She confronted him.

           “Nothing, Izzy, just greeting Ella,” Isaac replied. “Didn’t know she married a gadje.”

           “Va, I’ve seen him and he could probably eat you alive.” Isabel retorted and linked arms with her friend.

           Isaac only chuckled and shook his head before heading into camp with his horse in tow.

           “Idiot,” Isabel muttered. “How was your walk?”

           “Good.” Ella nodded and followed her back to the vardo. “Got to clear me head a little.”

           “And did you decide?”

           Ella glanced over her shoulder to where Isaac was. “Well, I’m sure as not hell traveling anywhere with him.” She laughed and sighed. “Besides, I miss Alfie too much to go any further. I’d like to go back.”      

           Isabel smiled warmly and squeezed her friend’s arm. “I’m so proud of you. Let’s get a letter out to him as soon as possible.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Nine months after she left with the Lees, Ella sent a letter to Alfie saying she would be returning to London. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he read those words. He’d been waiting every day for that letter to finally arrive. Reading it through felt like a dream. His Ella was finally returning to him.

           Alfie drove out with Polly and Tommy to greet Ella and welcome her back home. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the vardos and smoke rising from the fires. He got out of the car with energy in his step.

           “Alfie!”

           The sight of her struck him like a bolt of lightning. There was a glow about her that Alfie hadn’t seen in so long. He thought that side of her had been torn away from him for good. But there she was. Ella had gained back the weight she lost in the hospital and the sparkle was back in her blue eyes.

           Alfie couldn’t wipe the smile off his face when he saw her running over. Her hair had grown out and the Lee girls had intricately braided wildflowers into her dark hair. An alluring nymph of the British countryside. She moved across the long grass with such grace and weightlessness that was otherworldly.

           “There’s my wild gypsy girl.” He laughed and swept her off her feet, spinning her around. “Fucking missed you like hell.” He groaned and buried his face in her hair.

           “I missed you more.” She replied with all the charm and wit that had been covered with anger and sorrow. “Oh! I helped a mare foal!” She exclaimed joyfully. “We named her Lilac, she’s an Irish Cob. Oh, there’s so much I need to tell you.”

           Alfie chuckled at her enthusiasm. It was so relieving to see her so happy. It truly made the wait worth it. “Well, you’ve got plenty of time to tell me everything, love.”

           Ella was overwhelmed with the distance that had been put between them. Spurred on by the reunion, she kissed him. Both were a little too caught up in the moment to remember where they were. Alfie let her back down on her feet but continued to kiss her, gently parting her lips and pressing a hand to the small of her back.

           Tommy rolled his eyes and cleared his throat to break the two apart. “Are you going to say hello to us too?”

           Ella and Alfie drew away, both looking a little sheepish. He let her go so she could greet her brother and aunt.

           “Where’s this foal then, chavi?” Tommy asked.

           “She’ll be with her mother now; Isabel is out with them I think.” She said and waved her brother along to follow her to the pastures they were camped.

           Alfie and Polly followed a bit farther behind them. “She looks much better.” Ella’s aunt noted. “You did the right thing.”

           He shrugged. “I would wait years for her if it meant she’d come back better.” He watched Ella and Tommy go out to see the mare and foal and the sun felt a little brighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           Ella was afraid that Cyril and Anthea were going to have a heart attack when she walked into the room. The two tackled her, tails wagging and licking her cheeks.

           “Hi, hi!” She giggled, dropping to the floor and trying to hug them both close. “I know, I missed you too! Oh, Thea, look how big you’ve gotten.”

           “Yeah, she’s taken up to chewing on the fucking baseboards,” Alfie grumbled and hung up his and Ella’s coat.

           “Oh, naughty girl.” Ella cooed. “Were you giving papa a hard time while I was gone?”

           Alfie chuckled. “They were alright, missed you like hell though. Everyone did. Can’t tell you how many times your brothers asked if I’d heard anything from you.”

           Ella stood up and walked over to him. “I missed you all too. Missed you the most though.” She touched his cheek.

           “I won’t tell anyone you said that.” He winked at her and rested his hands on her hips. “Let me get a look at ya.” He murmured, his eyes grazing over her. Studying her face. The features that he had memorized. Seeing those blue eyes again was like a dream. He lifted his hand to trace the braids woven in her hair. “Grown it out again, have you?”

           “Your hair’s longer too.” She remarked once she saw him without his hat on.

           “Yeah well…” He cleared his throat. “’Member when I told you ‘bout Jewish mourning?”

           It was quite fuzzy. Alfie had told her only moments before it got out that she was pregnant. “Yeah, I think so.”

           “Parents are s’posed to mourn for a year. Now I know that I weren’t…” He blinked a few times and shook his head. “Never mind.”

           “Alfie.” She lightly scratched her nails over his cheek and drew his eyes to her. “It’s okay.”

           “I should’ve taken that fucking bullet.” He mumbled and touched his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry.”  

           “But we can’t go back. All we can do is go forward. So that’s what we’ll do. I’ve learned not to apologize for things that were beyond my control.”

           The two held each other close in the hallway. Reuniting and syncing their hearts to beat as one again.

~~~~~~~~~~

October 23, 1929

Camden Town, London

           “El, can you please do some gypsy magic to get this baby out of me?” Minnie bemoaned from her spot on the couch. The woman was heavily pregnant and trying to reach her stockings to fix them. After a few attempts to stretch over her massive stomach, she gave up with a disgruntled noise and flopped back against the throw pillow.

           Ella laughed as she came in from the kitchen. When Minnie’s husband was working, she’d taken up to helping her friend around the house. It was a good way to spend the time now that she didn’t work at the law office anymore. Instead, she was back on the Shelby payroll so long as she fostered good communication between her husband and brothers.

           “I’d have to ask my aunt she might have some tricks.” She set down the tray of tea and lunch for her best friend. “Here.” She offered to help adjust her stockings.

           “Just take ‘em off,” Minnie grumbled. “Not like I can go anywhere looking like a beached whale.” She folded her hands over her stomach with a pout.

           Ella smiled and shook her head, tugging off the stockings and placing them over the arm of the couch. “Anything else you need?”

           “Oh, El, you’re such a gift.” Minnie sat up and touched her friend’s cheek affectionately.

           “Well, as long as I’m the top choice for babysitting.” She teased. In the years that had passed since her miscarriage, Ella’s life had been very steady. It was something she enjoyed very much. The consistent routine was a joy to her and there was very little she would change. Her relationship with Alfie was strong and she was learning to trust her family again. It was comforting to know she could balance the two and that her love life and family life didn’t have to be at constant odds. Even though Arthur gave Alfie deadly looks and Tommy did his best to come out on top in negotiations, they were becoming accustomed to having him around.

           “I’ve got to get my nails done before Thursday.” Ella frowned at the chipped polish on her nails. "They look a mess."

           “What’s the occasion?”

           “Oh, Alfie and I are going to Paris for his birthday. His birthday's on the first but he’s got a meeting that weekend so we decided to go early. We figured the longer we waited the worse the weather would be."

           Minnie smiled coyly. “How romantic.”

           Ella rolled her eyes but couldn’t help the silly smile on her face. “He’s calling it the honeymoon we never took.” She admitted. "I think he's just being silly is all."

           Her friend squealed. “Oh, bless you both. Still so in love after all these years.”

           “We haven't been together that long.” She winced playfully. “I’d hate to grow tired of him after four years.”

           “Well for your fifth anniversary he’ll have to take you somewhere else if you’re going to Paris this week. Now I’ve heard Venice is just gorgeous.” Minnie gushed. “Or somewhere on the Mediterranean. Warm weather, beautiful beaches. The water's actually warm and clear instead of the shit we've got here.”

           Ella just laughed. “I think I’d be quite content celebrating our anniversary in London. Sometimes it’s nice just staying at home.” She hoped that by their anniversary next year, things would still be peaceful and unnoteworthy.

October 28th 1929

Paris, France

           “Alfie, love, will you do up my dress?”

           He came out of the hotel suite’s bathroom, fixing his cuff links. It was fairly rare those days that Alfie got so dressed up. He and Ella frequented some of the Shelby events but he certainly wasn’t going to imitate Tommy with his immaculate tuxedos and expensive trappings. But for a dinner with his wife, he’d dress to the nines.

           “Fucking hell.” He quipped from the doorway. “Ella Solomons, how many times have I told you to warn me ‘fore you put on a number like that?” He put a hand to his heart as if the sight of his wife had nearly knocked him right off his feet.

           She giggled. “Oh, stop it.”

           “Honestly, love, you look a dream.” He continued and began buttoning up the back of her royal blue dress. Alfie adored the color on her as it always managed to make her eyes appear even more bright than they already were. When he finished, he took her hand and led her into a little spin so he could see all angles.

           Ella blushed and spun around teasingly. The deep blue gown cinched at the waist but had a loose bodice with stunning silver beads. The skirt grazed the ground but had a slit that reached just to her knee, giving Alfie a sinful glance at her silver-colored heels.

           “Swear you make everything look good, El.” He remarked.

           She smiled and drew him in for a deep kiss. “I think it’ll look better on the floor.” She purred against his lips.

           Alfie groaned. “You wanna make us miss our dinner, love?” He growled playfully, pulling her flush to him.

           “No, I’m starving. Just wanted to give you a little preview for tonight.” She pecked his lips and slipped away from his grip.

           He chuckled. “Cheeky girl.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

           After a few filling dinner courses, Alfie and Ella decided to take a walk around Paris before returning for the rest of the night’s activities.

           “I have something for you.” He said as they walked hand in hand through the lively streets.

           “Me? It’s your birthday coming up, not mine.” She replied and poked his side. She'd already given his birthday gifts before they left, that way she wouldn't have to travel with them and risk losing the presents. Alfie was chuffed to open the finely made matching leather collar and leash for Cyril and Anthea, a beautiful fountain pen with the date of their wedding engraved in the silver, and a scarf since he'd been complaining audibly about the turning weather.

           “I know but I don’t need an occasion to spoil you, now do I?” He stopped and pulled a box out of his pocket.

           “Alfie…” She took the jewelry box with a look of hesitation.

           “Go on, open it. I ain’t waiting for Hanukah to give it to you.” He smiled encouragingly.

           Ella sighed and opened the box. Embedded in plush was a gorgeous necklace, the chain embedded with tiny diamonds, all linked together ending with a teardrop-shaped blue-gray Alexandrite stone.

           “Alfie…” She stammered in disbelief. “It’s gorgeous.”

           He smiled. “You like it?”

           There were tears in her eyes as she nodded. “You didn’t have to…”

           “None of that, now.” He carefully took the necklace out of the box and helped put it on. “Had them add the diamonds to give it a bit more. Looked sorta plain without them. Took me forever to find the gem though, clearest one I could find.”

           She laughed. Her husband was such a jewel critic. He’d refuse anything that wasn’t absolutely perfect. “I don’t know what to say.”

           Alfie rested his hands on her shoulders and turned her back around after he did the clasp. “Don’t hafta say anything, love. You deserve everything, no questions asked.”

           Ella kissed him softly. “I love you.” Her fingers began to work at his bowtie, slowly undoing the silky black fabric.

           “What’re you doing?” He murmured, a little too occupied with kissing her.

           “I want you to take me back to the room,” She left kisses over his cheek, moving to whisper in his ear. “Take this dress off me but leave the necklace on. Take this,” She placed the undone tie in his hand. “And use it to tie me to the bed.” She nibbled on his ear lobe. “And fuck me however you like.”

           Alfie was afraid his knees were going to give in right then and there. “Fucking hell, woman, you tryna do me in?” He groaned helplessly. "Ain't even me birthday yet and you've already treated me like a king."

           Ella pulled away and gave him an innocent look. “Not sure what you’re talking about Mr. Solomons.” She batted her eyelashes and reached a hand out to him. “But will you escort me back to the hotel?”

           “You minx.” He shook his head and gladly led her back to the suite.

October 29th 1929

Paris, France

           Alfie and Ella slept through most of the morning. After the eventful night together, they were more than happy to sleep in. With no engagements to attend, they could stay in bed the rest of the day if they so pleased. But the phone began to ring in the early afternoon interrupting their piece of heaven on Earth. Alfie groaned and threw a pillow over his face to try and block out the noise.

           Ella stirred and cuddled close to her husband. “Alfie, who’s that calling?” She mumbled absent-mindedly.

           “Dunno, love. Not important though.” He wrapped his arms around her bare body.

           She smiled sleepily and pressed her cheek into his chest, content to ignore the ringing, just waiting for it to stop.  

           It did, for a moment. Alfie kissed her forehead and ran his fingers over her hips and thighs. “How are you?” He asked.

           “Good.” She threw a leg over his hips to straddle him. “I don’t think this has to end though.” She murmured and kissed his neck. "I think we're well rested enough to continue last night's activities."

           “You’re relentless.” Despite that statement, he began to wake up more and captured her lips.

           Then the phone began to ring again. The loud, obnoxious chiming along with the vibrations of the receiver rattling. They parted and Ella moved to get up. Alfie wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her in bed. “Ignore it.” He coaxed again and rolled them over so he was hovering over her. The ringing continued for a bit as he kissed down her entire body, grazing each little mark he’d left the night before.

           Ella soon forgot about the phone and giggled, wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck as he lavished her with love. "Oh, Alfie." She sighed adoringly, gratefully indulging in her husband's affection.

           But the phone went off again.

           “Fucking hell,” Alfie grumbled, the third calling really beginning to turn the mood sour.

           “It’s gotta be important.” Ella bit her lip. “You should get it.”

           Alfie ceded and reluctantly left his wife in bed, getting up to answer the phone. “This better be fucking good.” He barked into the phone.

           “I’m guessing you haven’t read the news,” Tommy replied.

           “No, mate, I’m on holiday with me wife, I haven’t had the chance to read the fucking news.” He retorted, grumpy that his brother-in-law had interrupted their morning. Nothing like Tommy Shelby's voice to completely turn his mood upside down.

           “Well, I suggest you do. The world’s burning.”

           “Tommy, I ain’t in the mood for your gypsy mystique.” Alfie turned around to his wife. “Ella, love, will you go get the paper?” He requested.

           She looked a bit confused but got out of bed. After putting on a robe, she stepped outside and picked up the newspaper that had been left at the hotel door. She read the headline as she walked back into the room. “It’s in French, I can’t understand it.”

           Alfie took the paper and tried to pick out any words he recognized. But his French was very limited. “Tommy, for fuck's sake, just tell me what happened. Neither of us read French.”

           “The stock market’s crashed.” He finally answered. The words were still difficult to get out. It was as if saying them made it true and he desperately did not want that to be the fact.

           “Well, that’s what you get for investing in America, mate. I never trusted them.” Alfie shrugged.

           “The whole world’s fucked, Alfie, this affects you just as much as it affects my company.” Tommy retorted with a bite in his voice. He wasn't in the mood for Alfie's superiority complex over him.

           Ella perched on the edge of the bed and watched her husband discuss the matter with her brother. Although she was listening, she wasn’t too sure what was going on. But the longer Alfie spoke with Tommy, the more worried he looked.

           “Didn’t think you wanted me at family meetings, Tom,” Alfie said after Tommy said he and Ella needed to return to England to attend the family meeting the next day.

           “Things have changed,” Tommy replied in a clipped tone. “Noon tomorrow.”

           Alfie was going to say something else but his brother-in-law promptly hung up the phone. “Don’t think we’ll be able to make noon tomorrow.” He muttered and scratched his beard.

           “What’s happened?” Ella asked.

           “Stock market’s crashed. Things aren’t looking good. Your cousin’s gonna get thrown in the cut once he gets home. Your brother’s right pissed at him.”

           “Things are looking good…so what does that mean?” She shook her head. The news was a bit of a shock. According to Michael, the New York Stock Exchange was going to make the company a fortune. There was no ceiling, in fact, it would only keep going up.

           “It means the world’s in for quite a shock.” Alfie sighed and ruffled his hair as he thought through what Tommy had told him. “I’ve got to make arrangements to get us back home.”

           She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “We’ve got tickets for Thursday to return home.” They had, after all, planned to be in Paris all week before Alfie’s birthday.

           “I know, love.” He walked over and kiss her hair. “But Tommy wants to address the family.” The two embraced, a little stunned by the news. “I suppose that includes me now too.” He grumbled into Ella’s hair.

Romani:

Lashav: Shame So keres: What are you doing? Gadje: Non-gypsy Va: yes

Permanent Tag: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams @biba3434 @kimmietea @karmezii​ @enrapturedbythemoon​ @vampgirl1997​

Tag list: @deaflikehawkeye​ @octaviareina​ @mylovelykelsifer​ @doubletriplepowerbomb​ @ramblingbaby​ @fuseburner​ @kaetastic​

Masterlist

PB Masterpost

[themidnightfarmer]

Bringing in some colour || Morgan & Jared

Timing: Present

Location: Jareds greenhouse

Tagging: @mor-beck-more-problems & @themidnightfarmer

Description: Morgan and Jared do some mosaic for the greenhouse, and talk.

Triggers: none i think?

“Thank you for letting me help you with this. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been able to do something nice with my hands. Or, nice and productive anyway,” Morgan said, her joke laughing behind her eyes. She spread the green glass panes around Jared’s kitchen table so they looked like a sharp-edged rendering of the sea. One by one she picked them up, careful not to let the panes trickle through her fingers or snap under her thumb. She pressed them into the window frame until she heard their quiet sigh of connection and sealed them in safe with a few dabs of her puddy knife. “Who’s the one who taught you how to do all this stuff anyway?” She asked. “Seems like a big job for one fae all on his own.”

Jared blinked over at Morgan owlishly before he caught on to her meaning. He snorted and was eternally grateful that his glamour covered any heat that might take over his cheeks in a blush. “Oh wow. Love isn’t dead I suppose.” he commented lightly with a small laugh. The variety of colours spread out across the only free bench in the greenhouse sparkled in the midday sunlight and he smiled as Morgan fit a full pane of their work into the frame ready to go up. “Google, google and youtube are wonderful teachers Mogan, and tuition fees are close to zero.” Jared joked. “But the farm stuff, I was born in town, this farm has been my family's farm since 3 years before that even. I grew up fixing stuff that broke and managing animals...although my idea of good cattle and my human families? Not quite the same.”

“You might even say it’s un-dead,” Morgan smirked, maybe too pleased with herself. “Romance everlasting.” She reached for one of the smaller pieces and fit it into the grid, trying to see it up close and far away at once. So many little pieces, amplified to so much more beauty by being brought together. “And that is seriously impressive. I mean, I did a lot of that too when I was hustling through the day back in Texas, but it was hard. And I wasn’t very good at it either. I need that personal touch, you know?” She smiled over at him again. “And I still think what you’re doing is more than worth being proud of. I’m not sure who else would even know how to take care of your critters like you do.” A thought came to her then, less bright than her last. “How...how was it in there, at the ring, with their animals? Do you know where any of them ran off to?”

“I find youtube a lot easier than being taught something. School was never my thing so I struggle to learn through being told. But everyone has it different. What were you trying to learn while you were ‘hustling’ in texas?” Jared asked curiously, his own fingers moving over the glass pieces to select one for the mosaic they were constructing. A few of the panes had fallen in on his greenhouse recently. And Jared had decided he wanted something to make him smile, and a little bit of colour would do wonders he was sure. The compliment took the sting out of bringing up the whole situation at the ring, but that didn’t mean the reminder didn’t sting a little anyway. “It wasn’t...very good in there. I tried to keep my focus, but there was a lot going on with everything. Being realistic isn’t easy sometimes. I just wish I could have done something for them all. But that’s not...you know realistic. I don’t blame anyone for protecting themselves, I...do blame the people who took the poor things captive. They deserved whatever they got.” He shot Morgan an uncomfortable look. “Not a popular opinion that one. By human standards I’m supposed to put ‘people’ first.”

“I was mostly learning to take care of myself online and from handbooks.” Morgan said. “But can I ask why? About school? I don’t mean like--I’ve become well aware how the common school systems and classroom set ups in this country underserve and in some cases sabotage growth in some students. I’m always up for finding new ways to accommodate and help my students and, well, you can’t help but think about it when you learn how many species there are and how many of us don’t get a handbook or a community for how to deal with...anything. I can’t imagine how hard it is for people like us to get by on a practical level sometimes. So I just...wondered. It’s good, though, that you found a way to make do for yourself. I’m happy for that.” She tried to busy herself with the next few pieces of the mosaic they were constructing together, but after the first one she had to stop. She looked at Jared with eyes that held only understanding for him. “We’re people too, Jared. And from what I understand from Remmy, they treat dogs at the pound better than they did some of these creatures. I don’t know how to...how to carry what I did there. But I don’t think it was wrong. Not the way other people would think it was wrong. And I don’t know what we could’ve done different, exactly. Those people didn’t...they didn’t see us, you know? They didn’t see any of the creatures they kept locked up as anything with a life of its own. They just let them die, horribly, night after night.” She shivered and wiped away a tear budding at the corner of her eye. “And I don’t believe in moral binaries anyway so, you know, fuck human standards.”

The nymph was lost at first, the man hadn’t ever really thought about why he hadn’t done well in school. It just had sort of been a reality for him, he was sure it hadn’t helped that he’d started skipping. Even fae kids could have a rebellious phase it seemed. But he’d not grown out of it quickly considering he knew he wasn’t even human. “I don’t know honestly, I guess I was distracted by a whole host of other things. I needed to learn to focus, my bones ache all the time, and my mind wanders to my kids. Just maybe didn’t have the discipline or the knowledge to block it out and keep up. My glamour used to be my main focus day to day when I was younger.” Jared shrugged and smiled at Morgan. “Probably not the answer you were looking for, but I had no one to teach me how to manage all those things, so I was a slow learner all around. Never graduated, so it’s not like I can say I HAVE learned to manage myself.” he laughed jovially, not bothered by this fact as much as he used to be. The reality of the ring was indeed a sad one. It moved him to know Morgan felt the same way. He hoped she was shedding a tear for the creatures like he had and not just the people who’d suffered. Although both parties were definitely deserving of the grief. “Human standards suck, always have, according to the very few fae I’ve met. But maybe we’re just the vindictive type?” He reached out to the woman and gave her an encouraging smile. “If it helps. I’ve wandered the woods these last few days and a few have found their way to me. There is hope. They’re glad to be free, and you did that. Not only are your friend Remmy and Nell free, but some of them are too.”

Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know, sounds like keeping up that glamour full time takes a decent amount of concentration and discipline. Maybe you would’ve had the headspace if it wasn’t for that, but letting your fae flag fly in public isn’t exactly practical. Or safe. I think you’ve managed pretty well on your own, though. You’ve got a handle on everything that matters most to you, and that’s the important thing, right?”

She went slowly back to her work, pressing each piece with care and dabbing away at the grout that rose between the pieces so it was squished just right. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the word vindictive. In that moment in the dark, freshly flung from the bear, hearing that woman have the gall to be upset with her, go for her like she was the one owed. She remembered her own rage, her own hurt… “Maybe we wouldn’t have to be if things were more fair. But I am glad, you know?” She sniffled and blinked back her way tinto some composure. “We have our friends back, and maybe there’s some critters who can live their life with a little more peace. I’m not, you know, a longtime fighter or worker for this sort of thing like you are, I didn’t even know half the species I’m aware of now existed until I moved here, but I am...I do think your animals deserve as much of a fair shot as they can get.”

“That is the important thing. Though I wish there was a fae flag. We definitely need a flag. But it’s got to be invisible and it’s got to steal your name when you look at it. Since I’m pretty sure those are the rules.” Jared joked. It was slow work, but the mosaic for the gaps in the greenhouse would brighten the place up, and they definitely needed it around the farm lately. “We do have them back, and you don’t need to be fighting for my kids like I do. No one does, I just really appreciate that you don’t think of them as lowly as you could. Everyone deserves a shot you know?” He paused and put the last few spots of colour into the pane of glass he was working on and held it up towards the window to let the light through it. “But hey, all we can do is our best, all anyone can do is their best. And it’s sometimes not what we want, not enough, or not what you need. But it’s the best you can do. And it’s okay...but in my humble opinion my mosaic skills are godlike and nothing I can create will ever be less than perfect.” he tacked on to make her smile. 

Morgan couldn’t help but snort along with Jared. “Promise binds you on the spot not to talk about it too I bet.” She fumbled with the pieces she was working with and laid the last few down along the section she was working on. “You really are a uniquely understanding person, Jared. I don’t know as much as you do, obviously, but I do believe that everyone should get a fair shot, yeah.” She sniggered again at his pride in his handiwork. “Excuse me! I am clearly a goddess for my contributions to this work of fine art,” Morgan quipped. “We should let it rest before we put it in, yeah? But I think it’s the most beautiful thing ever made by supernatural hands. You know if you need anything more substantial… I mean, you helped break my friends out from the ring and fixed my brain. If that doesn’t make us friends now, I’m not sure what else could.”

He smiled at her widely. “I do try, it’s hard to see things from the other side a lot of the time. But I’m trying to get better. Especially after all this stuff.” Jared shrugged and then admired her work as well as his own. He was really happy with how it was turning out. Asking for Morgan's help had definitely been the key to all this. It was kind of therapeutic as well. “Oh yeah definitely, absolutely. Only gods would be able to create something like this. We’re the highest of the high. No one can even see us anymore, we're so good.” The nymph shrugged. “You don’t need to offer anything to be friends. We can just be friends you know...no strings required.”

Morgan’s face turned sheepish. “Sorry. Old habit, I guess. I was raised to believe in equivalent exchange in all things, to keep my balance with the universe and maintain that balance with everything and everyone I encountered. At least as much as possible. But I think maybe when it comes to certain people, maybe when it comes to friends...balance can look different, or be different than how I was taught.” She ran her finger over the fine glass pieces. They didn’t feel like anything to her but they really were beautiful together, even in all their misfit shapes and humble offerings, they were enough. “Then we’re friends, Jared. No deals or offers or trades. Just friends.”

[thenighttrain]

folklore first listen

pls feel free to ignore this, i just wanted to record my screaming on my blog so that i can refer back to it and laugh at myself someday x

The 1

THE PIANO OMG I LOVE IT AND I LOVE THE BEAT I looooove THIS SONG IT’S SO NOSTALGIC WHO THE FUCK IS IT ABOUT OH MY OGD IM SCREAMING also the swearing I’m living… ok seriously who is this about I am losing my mind. This is so bittersweet I’m ?!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY LOVE THIS

CARDIGAN

I ALSO LOVE THIS WHAT ITS’ SO NOSTALGIC and the music video is so pretty wit the green and she looks like an actual forest nymph with the piano and the water and it’s all incredible. YOU DREW STARS AROUND MY SCARS BUT NOW I’M BLEEDING???????? BITCH. THE LYRICS IN THIS ARE FUCKING INCREDIBLE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK OH MY DISJFASLDFNSADF OH MY GDO I knew you’d linger like a tattoo kiss??????? MAAM?

The last great American dynasty

SO INTRIGUING HOW SHE WROTE THIS??? WHAT IS IT ABOUT? IDK BUT I LOVE IT

Exile

BON IVERRRRRR I LOVE THE WAY HIS VOICE SOUNDS IN THIS AND THE CHORUS IS HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL and the background vocals… omg. This album his the most unique thing she’s ever written I????? I LOVE HOW HER VOICE SOUNDS N THE CHORUS. ‘You were my crown now I’m in exile seeing you out’? YOU KNOW LIKE I CAN IMAGINE THESE SONGS AS THE SOUNDTRACK TO SO MANY OF MY FAVOURITE FANTASY BOOKS IM LOSING MY MIND. ALSO OH MY GOD BON IVERS VOICE AT THE END HOLY FUCK!!!! THIS IS SO GOOD THIS IS ONE OF HER BEST DUETS IM LOSING MY SHIT this song is incredible I am in LOVE

My tears ricochet

TRACK 5 TRACK 5 TRACK 5 AHH I LOVE HOW DEEP HER VOICE GOES AND THE BACKGROUND VOCALS OMG. Oh my god the chorus I am in love, I love her voice sounds so raw on this album, we haven’t heard that in years IF I’M DEAD TO YOU WHY ARE YOU AT THE WAKE CURSING MY NAME?? OMG. This is fully giving me like fae woodland imagery I just love it, the vibes of it all!  AS YOU BURY ME? OH MY GOD IS SHE A GHOST IM SCREAMING I LOVE THIS PERSPECTIVE. HOLY FUCK HOLY FUCK THE BRIDGE!!!!!!!! THE LINES ABOUT SCREAMING. THE BRIDGE IS UNBELIEVABLE AND THE WAY IT JUST FADES OUT I?

Mirrorball

Omg I love the vocal effects! This is full indie pop vibes I AM DIGGING IT. OH MY GOD THE CHORUS BROOO OK I OFFICIALLY LOVE THIS SONG IT’S EXACTLY THE KIND OF MUSIC I LIKE LISTENING TO. ‘Drunk as they watch my shadow, edges glisten’ oh wow the lyrics in this album are fucking otherworldly. Oh fuck this is  agood bridge. I really cannot wait for all the analysis of this album by smarter people because I am not understanding BUT I AM LOVING IT. ALSO IDK WHAT A MIRRORBALL IS BUT I LOVE IT ANYWAY. How does she know such fancy words, I want her brain

Seven

‘I ht my peak at seven’ ok but same? HEYY SHE MENTIONED MOON AND SATURN I AM LIVINGGGGG. It’s so soft and wistful, those are the vibes of this album so far and I am really LOVING IT. PLEASE PICTURE ME IN THE WEEDS BEFORE I LEARNED CIVILITIY I USED TO SCREAM FEROCIOUSLY ANY TIME I WANTED?? IM YELLING I LOVEEEEE THESE LYRICS OH MY GOODNESS

August

ONCE AGAIN I LOVE THE VOCAL EFFECTS, I LOVE THE WAY HER VOICE SOUNDS.  Omg the chorus is catchy! I love the way she sings ‘I can see’! OK THSI SONG IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITES I MEAN JUST LISTEN TO IT? I HAVE BEEN IN A STATE OF SHOCK SINCE LAST NIGHT BUT THIS IS MAGICAL ETHEREAL GROUNDBREAKING NEVER BEFORE SEEN INCREDIBLE PERFECT. OHH GOD THE BRIDGE IS COMNIG UP- YES IT’S AJFDSNAFKJSDFAF SHE WROTE THIS SONG IITS’ SO GOOD MISDFN JASDNFLJK SO MUCH FOR SUMMER LOVE AND SAYING US CAUSE U WERENT MINE TO LOSE!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is one fo her best songs ever EVER OMG AND THE BACKING VOCALS AT THE END AHH AND THE BEAT DROP TAYLOR WHAT THE FUCK YOU’VE OUTDONE YOURSELF A G A I N ??? IM NEVER GONNA RECOVER FROM THIS FUCK

This is me trying

Firstly, this song title is such a mood, especially this year. The beat in this song s so good - THIS SICK BEAT. AHH THERE IS THS COOL INSTRUMENT IS IT A VIOLIN IDK BUT I LOVE IT OMG. ‘THEY TOLD ME ALL OF MY CAGES WERE MENTAL SO I GOT WASTED LIKE ALL MY POTENTIAL AND MY WORDS SHOOT TO KILL WHEN I’M BAD I HAVE A LOT OF REGRETS ABOUT THAT II WAS SO AHEAD OF THE CURVE THAT THE CURVE BECAME A SPHERE I FELL BEHIND ON MY CLASS LATE UNTIL I ENDED UP HERE POURING OUT MY HEART TO A STRANGER BUT I DIDNT POUR THE WHISKEY! Oh god the ‘AT LEAST IM TRYING’ MAAAAM. THAT LAST VERSE FUCK FUCK FUF ASJDO FUCK THE BUILD UP. Listen I don’t know what the fuck this song is about but I do know that I love it I ADORE IT I FEEL LIKE EVERY SONG IS BETTER THAN THE LAST WHAT THE FUCK

Illicit affairs

I’m so intrigued by the title of this song! I LOVE the guitar in this song omg it’s so soft and wistful? IT DIES A MIIIILLIOON LITTLE TIMES……….. I love the little falsettos, that you picked out just for HIM! Take the words for what they are, a dwindling mercurial HIGH a drug that only worked the first few hundred times AND THAT’S THE THING ABOUT ILLICIT AFFAIRS AND CLANDESTINE MEETINGS AND STOLEN STARES they show their truth one single time BUT THEY LIE AND THEY LIE AND THEY LIE A MIILION LITTLE TIMES. LOOK AT THIS IDIOTIC FOOL THAT YOU MADE ME YOU TAUGHT ME A SECRET LANGUAGE I CAN’T SPEAK WITH ANYONE ELSE and you know damn well for you I would ruin myself a million little times. Holy fuck I have 0 words this is. Unbelievable it’s sunning I LOVE the bridge? I?

Invisible string

Oh lord I am not ready for this one. I love the way she sings the pre chorus! Were the CLUUUES I didn’t see—ee-ee. Omg this song is actually so cute. CHAINS AROUND MY DEMONS? WOOL TO BRAVE THE SEASONS? HOW THE FUCK DID SHE WRITE THIS IT’S SO GOOD IM SPEECHLESS also I LOVE the strings in this song, I love the production of this entire album tbh. It’s so chill and stripped back and it makes you focus on her vocals which sound soooo good.

Mad woman

TAYLOR SAID FUCK TAYLOR SAID FUCK TAYLOR SAID FUCK IM LIVINNGGGGG. ANYYWAY I LOOOVE THIS IM DIGGING ITTT I LOVE THE CHORUS EEEEK. the second verse omg I love the anger, the bitterness, you can HEAR it in her voice! It’s obvious that wanting me dead has already brought you two together??? EEK THE BRIDGE a spinster? What a shame she went mad… YOU MADE HER LIKE THAT OMG BITCH

Epiphany

Omg the intro build up - I love it. This sounds like a church choir? Is this about a soldier in war? What? It reminds me of Dunkirk or something omg. This is again so haunting, very slow and the piano only adds to the somber tone

Betty

WHO? IS? BETTY??????? Oh hey this is a gentle intro with this instrument that sounds familiar but idk what it is but I love it. I love the melody in this omg!  SHE SAID FUCK AGAIN SHE SAID FUCK AGAI NOGAS JDFHLDSDKFLD TAYLORRRRRR WOULD YOU TELL ME TO GO FUCK MYSELF??? IM ONLY 17 I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING BUT I KNNOW MISS YOU! BITCH!!!!!!!! This is about like a lost first love! Anyway I really looove how her voice sounds in this and the melody…. I DREAMT OF YOU ALL SUMMER LONG OMG THE BRIDGE IS INCREDIBLE!!!!! Omg awww the only thing I wanna do is make it up to you so I showed up at your party?? AHH THE KEY CHANGE INI THE LAST CHORUS EEEEKKKKKK OMGGGGG WILL IT PATCH YOUR BROKEN WINGS I’M ONLY 17 IDK ANYTHING BUT I KNOW I MISS YOU OMG THE REFERENCE TO A CARDIGAN AGAIN!!!!!!!! AND THE STREETLIGHT! IM YELLING I LOVE THE PARALLELS AND THE MOTIFS and you can just hear the childish innocence int his song, I love it

Peace

This intro is SO COOL AND I AM VIBING HARD TO IT, I LOVE THE GUITAR IN THE BACKGROUND? Ok oh god I really like this one. The devil’s in the details but you got a friend in me I— THIS CHORUS IS AMAZING I ADORE IT. Omg this might be one of my favourites. Holy fuck I cannot get over how good the lyrics in this album are!!!!!!! I TALK SHIT WITH MY FRIENDS IT’S LIKE I’M WASTING YOUR HONOUR! Sit with you in the TRENCHES? Omg! WHAT IS THIS ABOUT I AM YELLING!!!!!!!!! ‘Clowns to the west’ oh hey that’s me. EEK THE SOFT KEYBOARD IN THE BACKGROUND - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hoax

Last song? Ma’am I am not ready!!!!!!!!! THE PIANO IN THIS OMG. The chorus….. it’s beautiful……….. YOUR FAITHLESS LOVE’S THE ONLY HOAX I BELIEVE IN OH MY GODDDD. I’m yelling I love this so much. I loooove the angst of the chorus, the resignation that this is the one love she wants, even if it’s faithless!  ‘You know I left a part of me back in New York’… THE LOUIS TOMLINSON PARALLEL DAFJKHASFKADS (I know you left a part of you in New York). ‘What you didd was just as hard’ omg what did he doooo?? MY KINGDOM COME UNDONE AHHHHH YOU HAVE BEATEN MY HEART! WHY IS THIS SONG SO BITTERSWEET IM ???????

[rukia-writes]

Can you do NSFW headcannons for Thorkell and a short (5ft/150cm) female? 👀

You know what...✨✨ this is a good ask✨✨ I do believe somewhere that it is said Thorkell is 50? Mid 50??? But you know that doesn’t stop our war loving viking so let me give this a whirl✨I do apologize this got a little long.❤️

✨NSFW:

✨The more I think about it if Thorkell ever had a s/o it would be cute if they were small/short.

✨A 5’0 female s/o?? So cute. Thorkell can’t. So small.

✨eventually gets a size kink.

✨Bad.

✨Just randomly picks her up and carries her(gosh now I can’t).

✨always make his short woman sit on his lap. ✨

✨Thorkell in the begining thinks he’ll break her. So he avoids sex (not that’s it’s on the front of his mind anyways.)

✨once his woman shows fire though that she wants sex and that she can take it..

✨Thorkell gets a little slackjawed but gets a smile on his face, rubs large hands together, and finds out that night how much she can take of this demon called Thorkell.

✨Thorkell is a freak. He is right up there with Snake, an older! Canute and Thors. (Anyone who says otherwise can fight me)

✨Dirty talk, spanking, hair pulling, breeding kink, and putting both his hands on her breasts while he works that pussy of hers.

✨His favorite thing to do is to grab her hips and slowly ease her on his cock, then quickly taking his cock out. This drives her insane.

✨”I’ll fuck you if you say please.”

✨”I’ve said please many times.”

✨”Hm? Oh, I just can’t hear you. Guess I’ll just-“

✨proceeds to slowly ease his cock in for what seemed the hundredth time that day.

✨One time Asgeir accidentally caught the two in a shed together and at first he was like “omg no” but then he never left and he just watched. And watched. And watched.

✨Like he is so amazed one could take on Thorkell, much less with his above average cock, and his massive arm muscles. Thorkell knew asgeir was watching but did he care? No, as a matter of fact Thorkell puts on a show.

✨Has his woman on spread her legs, he puts hands underneath her knees, puts his cock in as his woman’s pussy adjusts to the size and straightup fucks her. Right where asgeir can see in full glory.

✨Thorkell doesn’t give a damn.

✨”Look at you taking your commanders cock so well. You’re such good little nymph.”

✨”No other Viking can fuck you like I can. No one.”

✨Asgeir just loses when it he hears.

✨”Thank you Thorkell! Thank you for the great fuck!”

✨”You’re welcome. My little nymph. I’m glad li taught some manners.”

✨once it’s all said and done Thorkell will randomly ask Asgeir while at a tavern, “Did you cum as hard I did, Asgeir?” The man spits his drink and is so red in the face. Thorkell simply laughs, but he does make sure no one is around again.

✨Aftercare is going one of two ways with Thorkell. Either he is going to talk or he’s going to be asleep.

✨That’s it.

✨he ALWAYS places his hand over hers. Thorkell likes that, but don’t tell anyone.

✨A dirty secret (fantasy) of Thorkell’s: Thorkell wish he could time travel just once and have both him and Thors (before he met Helga of course) fuck his short s/o.

✨Thorkell gets hard just thinking about it. He knows his little nymph can barely handle him, but both him and Thors?? At the same time??

✨Thorkell’s nearly drools at the thought 💭

✨Rukia-Writes✨

[ambidextrousarcher]

I love your blog. I don't know much about eastern mythology but I feel like arjuna is a lot like rhagar . Charming prince , decent and virtuous man and hated for no reason. I googled arjun and it says he loved his second wife more than his first wife whom he married out of duty. Will you please discuss more arjuna and rhagar parallels please.

Hi, anon!

Firstly, I’m glad you like my blog! 

As for your question, I’d say that Arjun and Rhaegar are more like foils than true parallels. Superficially, I can understand that Rhaegar and Arjun seem like they have parallels. 

I’ll give a list of them, yes?

1. Charming Princes, both of them. Known to have ladies fawn over them.

2. Introverted nature

3. Excel in fine arts (Arjun is an amazing dancer, I think he also plays the Veena and Rhaegar is a singer who plays the harp)

4. Abducted a lady/married her. Arjun abducting Subhadra nearly causes a war, Rhaegar abducting Lyanna actually causes a war.

5. Warriors.

This is where I add a statutory warning: I think Rhaegar is a disgusting git, not least because he abandoned his wedded wife and children, also probably raping her by coercion (I don’t think Elia was healed enough to conceive when she had Aegon, according to the timeline give in canon.) Hence, if you want me to agree that Rhaegar is a tragic, misunderstood man, I’m sorry, that’s not going to happen.

That’s where the similarities end. Because the more I read of Rhaegar, the more he seems to have a truly reprehensible personality. He was obsessed with destiny and gave no thought to his duty as a crown Prince, or to his legally married wife, the Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. He, indirectly, led to her gruesome death. The girl he abducted, Lyanna Stark, was underage. For all that I don’t like Lyanna, if the situation was not an elopement, Rhaegar is to blame for some really deep shit. He basically treated Lyanna like a prisoner, isolating her in alien lands, indirectly being the cause of her death too. 

Arjun, on the other hand, is a man dedicated to his duty over his personal pleasure. Yes, he did abduct Subhadra, but, in his time and culture, that was an acceptable way of wedding a woman. Also, he had the permission of Krishna, her brother, who aided and abetted him, along with his brother too. That was why, as far as I know, the war that could have happened was avoided. Arjun was not egoistical at all. He did everything he did out of a sense of duty. 

Yes, he wanted to excel in his pursuits, was supremely talented in what he did, but he never lorded it over anyone. As for him loving Subhadra more and marrying Draupadi only out of duty, that’s a misconception. For all that Arjun/Subhadra is my OTP, it is Draupadi who is mentioned in the canon epic as the love of Arjun’s life, not Subhadra. He did love Subhadra, too. But it was Draupadi who was the queen of his heart. 

Unlike Rhaegar, Arjun was a man who explicitly refused the hand of a young girl when she was offered to him (Uttaaraa.) He accepted her for his age-appropriate son, instead, for preserving her honor. (He’d taught her dance for a year, it was, at that time, dishonorable for a maiden to be alone with a grown man). He refuses Apsara Urvashi, the most beautiful nymph in existence, because her position as his father’s courtesan and the wife of a long ago ancestor makes her a mother to him (KMG, not BORI).

Arjun, unlike Rhaegar, was a man of very dedicated duty and knew how to honour women.

Anon, thank you for this thoughtful ask. I would advise you to stop relying on Google and TV for information on mythology. It’s better to read the authentic versions (KMG and BORI Mahabharata) KMG, you can find at sacred-texts.com. 

TLDR: Rhaegar and Arjun are very different in spite of superficial similarities, do not rely on untrustworthy sources to find the actual story when it’s mythology, refer to authentic sources. 

I am sorry if I came off as rude.

[xathia-89]

Masterlist

After many discussions... attempt number 2 at a Masterlist.  Updated: 13th October 2019

Ikémen Sengoku

Azuchi Coffee and Bar (Ao3 Link)

A Kitsune’s Date Night - Mitsuhide (Smuttish)

Outsmarting the Kitsune - Mitsuhide (Written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

Teasing the Bride - Mitsuhide (Ko-fi reward)

For Aerion - Mitsuhide

A Very Thorough Investigation - Mitsuhide (Smut)

A Jealous Kitsune - Mitsuhide (Smut)

A Low Blow - Mitsuhide

A Bold Declaration - Mitsuhide 

The Wrong Message - Mitsuhide

Raising the Next Generation - Mitsuhide

Poisoned Tribute - Mitsuhide

Operation Distraction - Mitsuhide

Pregnant with a Snake’s Child - Mitsuhide

Mitsuhide’s little secret - Mitsuhide (Commissioned work)

A Towel is Optional - Mitsuhide (Smut off entry)

Checking out the Librarian Part 1 / Part 2 - Mitsuhide/Masamune/Natsuki (smut)

Between a Dragon and a Kitsune - Mitsuhide/ Arashi/ Masaume (Smut/Commissioned work)

Alpha and Omega - Hideyoshi (Smut)

Hideyoshi’s Latest Conquest - Hideyoshi (Smut / Commissioned work)

Day 17 - Hideyoshi

Day 3 - Hideyoshi

Worming out a Snake - Hideyoshi

Brother versus Lover - Hideyoshi

A Vassal’s Love - Hideyoshi

Alternative Route - Hideyoshi

If a Bird doesn’t sing, kill it - Hideyoshi (commissioned work)

”Dammit, we made a mess” - Hideyoshi/ Nobunaga/Natsuki (Smut)

“Help! My ex just invited me to his wedding!” -Nobunaga

”You’re finally here” -Nobunaga (Commissioned work)

Meeting his match - Nobunaga (Ao3 Link)

The Devil King’s Fear - Nobunaga (Commissioned work)

Day 5 - Nobunaga

A Decision Ignored - Nobunaga

Blame the Sake - Nobunaga (Smut)

A Birthday Surprise - Nobunaga

The Two Hideyoshis - Nobunaga

The Queen to the Devil King- Nobunaga

From Princess to Queen - Nobunaga

Communication requires Work - Nobunaga

The Firstborn - Nobunaga

Belated Blooming - Nobunaga

A Lord’s Claim - Nobunaga

Travelling between Wormholes - Nobunaga

Smoke and Mirrors - Nobunaga

Shower interruptions - Nobunaga (Smut/Ko-Fi reward)

In Charge - Nobunaga/Natsuki/Masamune (Smut)

Unmei No Akai Ito - Kenshin (Smut)

”It’s okay, you can leave” - Kenshin (Commissioned work)

Drunken Impulse - Kenshin

Making Things Clear - Kenshin (Smut)

Shutting out the Princess - Kenshin (Written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

An Unexpected Union - Kenshin

A Clash in a Faraway Town - Kenshin

A Dysfunctional Family - Kenshin

A Kidnapped Chatelaine - Kenshin

A Childhood Friend - Kojuro / Masamune

Ready to Drop - Masamune

Brought to the Future - Masamune

A Wolf in Disguise - Masamune

“If I have to pull over, you won’t be able to walk for a week” - Masamune (Smut)

An Enforcer in the Shower - Masamune (smut) 

Revving my Engine - Masamune (smut)

Testing out the IKEA furniture - Masamune x Natsuki (smut)

Making the Mistake - Ieyasu

A Twist in the Library - Ieyasu

Overcoming the Past - Ieyasu

A Disturbed Kidnapping - Ieyasu

A Lap Pillow - Ieyasu

Setting off the Trap - Ieyasu

Reading a Hedgehog - Ieyasu

Animagus - Ieyasu

Paging Dr Takeda -Shingen (Smut off entry)

Rocking the Bookcase -Shingen (Smut off entry)

A Suitable Plate -Shingen (Smut off entry)

A Tied Up Tiger - Shingen (Smut off entry)

Shingen in the Shower -Shingen (Smut off entry)

Mafia AU Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 - Shingen

Part 7.5 - Shingen (Smut and Kofi reward)

Trying to Hide - Shingen

The Pizza Man - Shingen (Smut tinge)

Day 11 - Shingen (Smut and Kofi)

A Happy Twist - Shingen (Kofi)

A Trip to the Future - Shingen

The Start of a Lifelong Obsession - Shingen

Sociology vs Psychiatry - Shingen (Small smut bit)

Bar Kasguyama - Shingen (Smut)

“I see you started without me” - Shingen (Smut)

Pregnant with a Tiger’s Cub - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

A Princess, A Dragon and A Tiger Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 - Shingen/Natsuki/Masamune

Modern AU - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 - Shingen v Masamune

The Handy Boyfriends - Natsuki x Shingen x Masamune (Smut)

An Oblivious Genius - Mitsunari (Written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

Day 10 - Mitsunari 

Escaping from Kasugayama - Mitsunari

A Plan in Secret - Mitsunari

An Angel’s Touch - Mitsunari

Keeping a Secret - Mitsunari

Teaching the Tactician - Mitsunari (Smut)

Day 9 - Sasuke

A Time Traveller’s Wedding - Sasuke

Interfering Friends - Sasuke

From Kiriyama to Kaede - Sasuke x Kaede (Smut)

A Stubborn Man - Yukimura

The Pitter Patter to Come - Yukimura

A Pianist and a Pirate - Motonari 

A Passing Pirate - Motonari 

The Charms of a Princess - Motonari

A Kimono as a Work of Art - Yoshimoto (Smut)

The Wrong Kasugayama -Kasugayama boys

An Honest Mistake - All 

Day 14 - All

The Past Brought to the Future - All

A Healer thrown back in time - All

Playing in an Alpha’s World (Heat/Modern AU) - Kenshin - Part 1 - Part 2

How the Warlords react to finding out MC is a woman

How the Warlords React to MC waking from a nightmare

A Secret Date

Finding out MC is pregnant

Warlords as Teachers

Reasons to Get Married

MC says she wants to learn to defend herself

Genderbend Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Long Lost Siblings - Masamune / Mitsuhide / Hideyoshi / Nobunaga/ Mitsunari / Ieyasu / Yukimura / Kenshin / Shingen / Sasuke

Spin the Bottle - @actualdemonbianca submission

Ikémen Vampire

A Gangbang of Vampires - All (VERY NSFW)

A Lesson in the Biblical Sense - All 

“Do you ever get the urge to settle down?” - All (handwritten)

The Dangers of leaving a phone unguarded - All (Smut-ish)

“If you don’t like my teasing, then why are you moaning?” - Leonardo (Smut)

The Real Monsters - Leonardo (Smut)

Your room or mine? - Leonardo (Smut)

Lost in the Night Sky - Leonardo

A Maid’s Job - Leonardo x Evelyn x Le Comte (SMUT)

A Jealous Passion - Theo (Smut)

If you don’t shut it real fast - Theo (Smutt-ish)

A Woman’s Right - Le Comte de Saint Germain

A Lesson to be Taught - Le Comte de Saint Germain (Smut)

Disturbing his Sleep - Le Comte de Saint Germain (Smut)

A Change in the Mansion - Le Comte de Saint Germain 

He Doesn’t Listen to me either - Le Comte de Saint Germain 

A Present from the Future - Le Comte de Saint Germain (Smut)

A Little Experiment - Le Comte x Leonardo x Evelyn (Smut)

“Do you really want me to beg for it?” - Arthur x Evelyn x Le Comte (Smut)

What a woman is good for - Arthur (Smut)

Knabbeljtle requires saving... from her best friend - Evelyn x Arthur x Theo

Aftermath - William Shakespeare

The Skilled Hands of a Butler - Sebastian (Smut)

Under a Lady and between a Butler - Evelyn x Yina x Sebastian (Smut)

Lady Hampton and her problem - ALL THE GOATS

Tied up in the Wrong Pen - Dazai x Sebastian x Evelyn x Goats

How to Accumulate a Heard - Evelyn x Erik x Goats

Lord Hampton - Erik x Evelyn 

Fudging the Dates - Erik x Evelyn x Xavia

A Welcome Party for two - Erik x Evelyn (Smut)

Making a Meal of a Lady - Napoleon (Smut)

Defrocking a Priest - Isaac (Smut)

From a Fire in the Woods - Caitriona origins 

Ikémen Revolution

Doing the right thing - Jonah (commissioned work)

Day 12 - Jonah

The After Dessert - Edgar (Smut)

On Display - Edgar (Smut)

A Homely Scene - Luka/Alice/Edgar 

A Luka Sandwich - Luka/Alice/Edgar (Smut)

Pushing the Jack - Luka (Smut)

Day 18 - Luka

Coming Undone - Luka (Smut)

“I’m going to make things right” - Luka

Dating Luka Clemence - Luka (Smut)

A Misunderstanding - Luka

Against a Brick Wall - Luka (Smut)

An Introduction to Something Sweet - Luka/Oliver/Ashley (Smut and Kofi)

How to treat a Brat - Oliver (Smut)

Ashley for Dessert - Oliver (Smut)

A Teaparty Gone Wrong - Oliver (Smut)

Day 13 - Sirius

Good Boy - Sirius (Smut)

Day 6 - Sirius

Day 2 - Sirius

Teasing Touches - Sirius

A Fall off the Treadmill - Siris (Smut)

Doodle$ and Drabble$ in the Gym - Sirius (smut/ Ko-Fi reward)

Appearing ever the gentleman - Sirius (Smut)

Playing the Deck on the Desk - Sirius x Saskia (smut)

A Sandwich Between Queens - Sirius/Saskia/Jonah (Smut)

The Best Start to the Day SFW / NSFW - Ray/Sirius/Alice

A Diversion in the Closet - Ray (Smut)

Teasing the King - Ray (Smut)

“I’ve wanted this for so long” - Ray (Smut)

Campfire - Kyle x Lissie x Ray

“Are you asleep?” - Harr

A Night in front of the Fire - Harr (Smut)

Dismissing a Nightmare - Seth

“I can’t imagine this world without you” - Lancelot (commissioned smut)

Arcana

“Don’t be scared, I’m right here”  Asra (Written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

A Magician’s Touch - Asra (Smut)

Untitled - Asra (Smut / written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

Mystic Messenger

A Nymph in his Shirt - Jumin (Smut)

An Early Birthday Present - Jumin

Day 19 - Jumin

Day 16 - Jumin

Day 4 - Jumin

The Real Party Happens Afterwards - Jumin (Smut)

“I can’t stand the thought of losing you” - Jumin

Following the Notes - Seven

Hiding from the Hacker - Seven (Smut)

Day 15 - Seven

Day 8 - Seven

Day 1 - Seven

Day 7 - Zen

Love, Lies & A Heist

Shared between the Heirs - Logan/Saskia/Ryan (Smut)

“Please, don’t go” - Ryan (Smut)

An Escapade in the Stockroom - Noel (Smut)

Midnight Cinderella

Our little Girl - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 - Giles/Sid/Sasha (Smut in Part 3)

Get on your knees - Sid (Smut and written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

“Please, don’t hurt me like this” - Giles angst

“You’ll always be safe with me” - Nico (written for Ikémen Discord Writers)

Doctor Who

The Hunted - My husband’s work

An Attack of the Angels - (It got hijacked off me) Tom Baker & Sarah Jane

SLBP

The Pale Moon’s embrace: Alternative Epilogue for Kaede - Sakura x Kaede

“We bet and you lost” - MC x Hattori Hanzo (Ikémen Discord Writers)

Crossovers

The Truth within the Lies Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 - collab with @toloveawarlord

A Warlord and an Inventor - Oliver/Ashley/Ieyasu (Smut)

An Inventor and a Warlord in “Who is the biggest tease?” - Leonardo/Colivara/Shingen (Smut)

1582 meets the 1890s - Natsuki & Nobunaga / Evelyn

One of Fourteen Million, Six Hundred and Five Ways - Darcy & Peter Capaldi / Avengers End Game Crossover (Commissioned)

Character Sheets

Lady Evelyn Hampton - Ikémen Vampire

 ALL CURRENTLY ON HOLD BELOW

Chandeliers - IkeSen

Governess - LL&H

Masquerade - LL&H 

Shattering the Twin’s Bond - IkeRev

[keybladeswar]

Confidence (Larxene x Fem!reader)

Words: 1538

Warnings: None

Summary: You’re the shy new member of Organization XIII, and Larxene helps you find your confidence.

Author’s Note: Happy Pride Month! This is the first of (hopefully) a series of LGBT+ reader inserts I’ll be posting throughout June. As always, if you enjoyed this, please like and reblog, and feel free to send in requests!

*

You stared at the slip of paper in your hand as your mouth went dry and your heart stopped beating. No, this couldn’t be real. This had to be a joke. Axel or Xigbar must’ve planted it. Some kind of hazing for the new girl. Something to make you look foolish, to make her lash out at you. Because there was no way you’d been assigned a mission with Larxene.

You were the newest member of Organization XIII. You’d been here for only a few weeks and you were still getting the hang of your new abilities. You’d always been assigned missions with the more... forgiving members of the Organization. But Larxene...

You’d never officially met her, never spoken to her. But you’d witnessed her verbal assaults on the others, Demyx in particular. You’d seen her throw her knives with precision, knew she could stab you through the chest without a second glance. The Savage Nymph, they called her. And they were right. She was as deadly as she was beautiful.

With a deep breath, you tucked the assignment into your pocket and headed to the common room. It was empty when you arrived, and you relaxed a little, thinking that at any moment Axel would appear, laughing at you falling for the joke. Instead, a dark corridor opened and the blonde woman appeared.

She crossed her arms and smirked, giving you a once over. “So they think the new girl is finally ready to meet me,” she said. “All right, then. Let’s see what you’ve got, Y/n.”

You were surprised when she called you by your name; until then, you weren’t sure she’d bothered to learn it.

Larxene opened another corridor and stepped through. You followed a beat later.

Twilight Town awaited you on the other side. The mission itself was simple enough; take out the heartless that were causing problems. You weren’t worried about them. You were more worried about getting in Larxene’s way.

“Do you want to split up?” You asked. “We could meet here again in an hour.”

“What, you don’t want to spend time with me?” Larxene asked. She raised an eyebrow when you didn’t immediately answer. “Wait a second — you’re not scared of me, are you?” The blood rushed to your cheeks as she burst out laughing.

“You are scared of me! Oh, that’s a riot. I haven’t laughed that hard in ages. Thanks, I needed that.” You hung your head in embarrassment, wishing you had your good pulled up. To your surprise, you felt Larxene’s hand on your shoulder. “Hey.” Her voice was soft now, softer than you’d ever heard it. “You’re new here. I don’t expect you to know how things work. I know you’ve seen how I treat the others. Well that’s because they’re idiots. They need someone to whip them into shape. You, on the other hand... Let’s just say it’s nice to have another girl around here. Now let’s get this mission done with and then we can... chat? Is that what people do? I’m not used to this whole being friendly thing.”

You smiled slightly. “Okay.”

You worked harder than you ever had at a mission, taking out heartless left and right. Now that you knew Larxene didn’t hate you, you wanted to keep it that way. You wanted to impress her. You wanted her to like you.

By the time it seemed all the heartless were gone, you were both out of breath.

“I hardly ever say this, but nice job,” Larxene said. “Maybe there’s finally someone at my level.” She smirked again, but this time you thought you saw a hint of a real smile buried beneath. “Let’s take a walk. We finished early. Saix won’t expect our reports back for at least a couple more hours.”

You nodded, and the two of you began your stroll through the streets of Twilight Town.

“You don’t say much, do you?” She asked.

“I guess not.” You blushed.

“And there’s no need to get so embarrassed all the time. I’m not making fun of you. If I were, you’d know it.” She continued, “It’s nice to be around someone quiet for a change. Everyone is always so obnoxious.”

You laughed. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“You should laugh more often,” Larxene said. “You have a cute laugh.” You tilted your head down to hide your blush again, but Larxene’s hand was suddenly under your chin, tilting it back up. “No, no. Your laugh is cute. Own it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed by. If you’re going to survive this Organization, especially as a woman, you’ve got to be proud. Own your good qualities. Embrace your bad. Use everything to your advantage. It’s a good thing I like you. The others might’ve taught you how to fight, but you’ve still got a lot to learn.” She paused and studied you for a moment, the way you slouched and ducked your head, the way you Golden your arms, anything to make you seem smaller. You knew she was right; you were an easy target. Larxene grinned. “Looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

***

And so you did. The rest of the Organization was shocked to see Larxene take such an interest in someone other than herself. For the next few weeks, Larxene taught you how to stand up for yourself, how to carry yourself in a confident manner. The first completely genuine smile she gave you was when you snapped at Xigbar after one of his signature snarky comments. You felt yourself opening up, becoming the type of person you’d always wanted to be.

You were also much more open with Larxene, laughing with her on your missions and in your free time, ranting about something stupid one of the others did. You loved when you made her laugh, the way she’d double over, clutching her stomach when the two of you were in private, and the proud glimmer in her eye when you’d take the lead on a mission. Most of all, you just loved spending time with her, watching as she complained about something, learning the way she’d move her hands or cross her legs.

No matter how confident you became, you could never stop the heat in your face whenever she complimented you. Or the way your heart raced when you saw her. Or the way even hearing her shout at someone from another room made you smile.

You were told you didn’t have a heart. But damn it if you weren’t falling for her.

Now you just needed to work up the nerve to tell her. You paced back and forth in your room. You knew you had to confess. It wasn’t fair to either of you to keep these feelings bottled up. But you were afraid. What if she laughed? What if she thought you were crazy? You didn’t have Hearts after all. How could you feel this way? What if it ruined your friendship? You knew she liked girls; she had told you about a girl she’d dated before she became a nobody. But just because she liked girls didn’t mean she liked you. You didn’t have much experience with dating. No matter that you could now walk with your head held high; on the inside, you were still that shy, awkward girl who never told her crushes how she felt.

But that had to change.

Without giving yourself time to change your mind, you opened a dark corridor and found yourself outside of Larxene’s room. You knocked on the door and waited.

“Demyx, I swear to god, if you flooded the bathroom again— Oh, Y/n. Wasn’t expecting to see you. What’s up?”

“Larxene, I want to try something, and if you don’t want me to, I’ll stop and never do it again,” you blurted out.

“Huh? Uh... Okay.”

Your heart pounding in your chest, you took a step closer to her. She was taller than you, so you lifted yourself onto your toes and tilted your head toward her slowly, giving her time to realize what you were doing and pull away if she wanted to. When she didn’t, you took the leap and pressed your lips to hers. Her lips tasted like vanilla and suddenly vanilla was your favorite flavor in the world. After a moment, you felt her lips start to move against yours and a jolt of electricity — both literally and figuratively — shot through your body as she wrapped her arms around you. Your own hands cupped her face, and the two of you stood there, intertwined, wishing you could stay there forever.

Finally, after what felt like eternity but also only two seconds, you pulled away. You took a step back and looked at Larxene, trying to gauge her reaction. You found yourself opening your mouth but unable to speak. You just kissed Larxene. You.

Larxene blinked, touching her lips lightly with her gloves fingers. After a moment, she regained her composure and raised an eyebrow at you. “And here I thought I was going to have to make the first move.” She smiled and pulled you to her, kissing you again. And this time, you didn’t pull away.

[shanastoryteller]

I just love your gods and monsters stories! I have been a fan of mythology since I was old enough to read and your takes on the stories are a modern breath of freshness. I was wondering if you were going on touch on Eris maybe?

a continuation of X

It hasn’t even been a day, the party for the wedding isstill in full swing. There are pockets of arguments, but nothing interesting haseven happened yet when Ares corners herand says, “I know it was you.”

Hebe goes cold. She wants to deny it, to lie and worm herway out of it, but if he already knows then there’s no point. She can’t dodamage control by pretending that the damage isn’t there. “Have you toldanyone?”

He raises an eyebrow. “And ruin all your hard work?” Hesounds sarcastic, but like he’s serious too. She just stares at him, waiting,and he sighs. “No, I haven’t told anyone.”

“Are you going to?”

“I should,” he snaps. “This is dangerous, and stupid. Thereare better ways to get power. There are easierways to power. You don’t need to do this.”

She grins, because he’s not going to stand against her. He’sgoing to glare and lecture, he might even nurse a grudge, but he’s not going totell. She doesn’t need his approval, only his silence. “I don’t want power tobe given to me. I want to take it.” She hesitates, because she doesn’t meanthis in a hurtful sort of way, but says it anyway. “Father declared you the godof war, and so that’s what you became. Hephaestus made himself from nothing,made things from nothing for the mortals, and so that’s what they named him. Themortals declared him to be a god of crafting and so that’s what he became. ButI don’t want to depend on Father or mortals.”

“If your power comes from neither from the Pantheon nor thepeople, then where?” he asks, and thankfully he doesn’t seem hurt, onlyskeptical.

“From where the first gods got theirs,” she answers. “Theywere granted nothing and took everything. I’m going to do the same.”

He blinks, then smiles for the first time during thisconversation. “Chaos bore the gods, and so you will become a god of chaos?”

It’s not quite the same, the chaos that birthed the universeand the chaos she’s capable of claiming are not one in the same. But they’relinked, and she plans to use that link to her advantage. “Yes.”

Her brother frowns and rubs at his chin. His hair is looseand long around his hips, how he likes to keep but is rarely able to because itgets in his way during battle, and his chiffon is silk, something else he likesbut doesn’t often get the opportunity to experience. “One golden apple and acouple of feuds aren’t going to cut it, not if you want it to last. A slowbuild is all well and good, and worked fine for Hephaestus. But that’s not whatyou need. You need this to be a stone in a river, you need ripples, and largeones at that.”

“A couple of feuding major goddesses are pretty big ripples,”she points out.

“It’s not a bad start,” he agrees, and she’s going to smackhim. “But it can be bigger. It can be more, you can make it be more, and you knowthat. Why aren’t you doing it? Why aren’t you pushing it further?”

She looks away from him and admits, “I don’t want to causeyou more trouble.”

He’s talking about a war. If she really wants to be thegoddess of chaos, then a terrible war would be a wonderful beginning. Butstarting a war when her beloved brother is so hurt by them seems cruel, and shedoes not aspire to be the goddess of cruelty.

Ares grins, sharp and dangerous. He did not want to be thegod of war, but no one can deny he’s good at it, that he’s molded his unwantedpower into something deadly and different and entirely his own. “There willalways be war, my dear sister. The humans simply don’t know what to do if they’renot spilling blood. Maybe they learned that from watching us. There will alwaysbe another war, I will always inevitably be summoned to the battlefield. Onemore terrible war won’t change that.”

“You really don’t mind?” she asks, cautious, because shewants it so badly she can taste it, but she won’t run roughshod over herbrother just to get when she wants.

“What do you care?” he asks, but he’s still fond. “You wishto claim the primordial power of chaos for yourself. Strike fast, and strikehard. I’ll take care of myself, whatever destruction you bring.” She throwsherself at him, and he catches her easily, pressing a kiss against her cheek. Heputs her back on her feet, then pushes her back into the party. “Go. You havemore work to do.”

Hebe grabs a flute of nectar out of the hand of the closestnymph, who is outraged at the audacity until he sees who has taken his drink,and then he only bows his head ins submissions.

For now, they cower from her because she is the daughter ofHera and Zeus, because she is the sister of Ares and Hephaestus. But that won’tlast.

Soon, they will cower from her because she’ll have the powerto unmake them all, and this is her beginning.

~

To the fairest,says the apple, and she’d left it ambiguous on purpose, because she wasn’t surehow she was going to play it. An argument about beauty among goddesses is allwell and good, but not something they’ll wage war over.

“Who could it be for?” she asks, eyes wide and innocent, thesad and simple daughter of Hera. “Is not death the great equalizer of men?Perhaps it is for Hades.”

Minor arguments of beauty have been brewing all evening, butat this, everyone pauses, and looks at the golden apple with renewed interest.

“Clearly it is for me,” Aphrodite proclaims, who hadn’tcared for the apple when it was only a trophy to physical perfection. “For lovecomes to all, no matter the status and circumstances.”

Athena’s eyes narrow. Hebe is never quite sure if the twogoddesses loved or hated each other, and often it seemed as if they didn’t knoweither. “Oh, how can love be fair, when it cuts so deeply? Perhaps it is inmatters of intellect and warfare where true fairness lies, for all people can excelregardless of their history.”

Hephaestus usually sticks close to his wife, but at themoment he’s nowhere to be found, which is strange, because Hebe had seen himearlier. But what it means is there’s no one to restrain Aphrodite when shesteps into Athena’s space and says softly, dangerously,“The pursuit of intellect belongs to the privileged and the lazy, while lovestrikes all equally.”

“Please, don’t fight!” Hebe cries, stepping between them. “Letus settle this without discourse. Perhaps an outside party to decide who isfairest between you? A mortal, since it is upon your fairness to mortals thatyou each claim the prize.”

“A fine idea, daughter.” Hera’s voice rings like the tollingof a bell across the party, and all fall silent as their queen walks towardsthem. Hebe tenses, because if anyone besides Ares can see through her, it isher mother. But Hera barely glances at her, instead striding into the middle oftheir semi circle with hair in complicated curls and piled high, a moreintimidating crown than any gold or jewels she could wear. “But truly thefairest of us is I. For I am the goddess of family, and even those who have nointellect nor love to claim for their own have a family connected either byblood or by choice. Clearly I am the fairest of the Pantheon.”

For a moment, Hebe fears this will be the end, and bothAphrodite and Athena will lower their eyes and acquiesce the title of fairestto their queen.

But Hebe had not spent months calling magic from chaos andpressing it into molten gold for nothing. Without her influence, without thecall for conflict her golden apple exudes, perhaps it would have been nothing,perhaps it would have all amounted to nothing.

Her golden apple refuses to be nothing. It tugs and pulls atthem, it’s enticing strife demanding to be used.

Aphrodite and Athena, the motherless daughters of Zeus,stand against Hera, Queen of the Gods.

This is still small, still a not-quite-argument, but sheknows what it will grow into. This is the beginning of a Great War, one born andnurtured by her magic. It will be of chaos, and so shall she be of chaos.

By this war’s end, they will curse her name. Eris, chaoschild, the child of nothing more than the elements themselves.

Hebe will always love Hera, but Eris will have no origins.Chaos came before all else, and it has no mother.

~

Hades is walking down the hall of his palace, and then in thenext moment he is not, he is in a place that is not quite here nor there, norreally any other place either.

There are only three beings who can move him in such a way,and he’s looking at all of them.

“Fates,” he murmurs, inclining his head. “To what do I owethe pleasure?”

“It has begun,” Lachesis rasps, a woman in the prime of herlife and empty eye sockets.  “A primordialgoddess will soon walk this earth once more.”

An equally blind little girl runs her hand down the air infront of her, and for the briefest moments Hades sees a shining silver thread,one of the millions that the women are constantly weaving. “We could change it.Alter the destiny. It would just be one little snip.”

“All things must end,” comes the creaky, barely there voiceof the crone, the single violet eye the fates share between them in her face.Atropos glares at her counterparts, and he knows that they can tell, eventhough they don’t have eyes. It was them that taught Charon to see withoutseeing so long ago, after all. “So this girl is the beginning of the end. Weare born, and we will die.”

“Then we will be born again,” the child adds. Clotho remindshim of Styx too often, and he must remember that though she may look like achild, she’s not one, not even in the same way that Styx is no ordinary child. Thefates play by a different set of rules. “Perhaps I like this world. Perhaps Ido not want to leave it just yet.”

“We have time,” Hades says, and they all turn and look athim, swinging their bodies around in unison in a way that he doesn’t think he’llever get used to seeing. “The beginning of the end may be here, but the end isstill a far off thing.”

Atropos says, wry, “To master time is not to be a master toall that works within it, Kronos.”

Hades flinches. No one calls him that. Very few even know tocall him that. It’s been a long time since primordial gods walked the earth, long before Cronus and Rhea came together to make his current form. “I know that.”

“From chaos we were born and into chaos we shall fade,”Clotho says. “How long can you avoid your end, Father of Time? How long untilnot even your time can save you?”

Hades almost smiles, but restrains himself. He’s doesn’tthink they’d appreciate it. “Thank you for the warning, Fates. I will keep myeye on the ticking clock.” On the clock he controls, of course.

Their hands are moving through the air, touching strings hecannot see and rearranging them faster than his eyes can follow. “Goodbye, Kingof Death, Father of Time.”

Hades inclines his head, but doesn’t bother to voice his owngoodbye. Once they resume weaving, he knows they can no longer hear him.

He returns to his castle under his own power, and goes insearch of his wife. Persephone must be told first, after all.

Hebe is not the first god to reach for the power of chaos. Butmaybe it is time for the beginning of the end, maybe they should let her keepwhat she’s so desperate to steal.

Just because it nearly destroyed Dionysus doesn’t mean itwill destroy her.

gods and monsters series, part xxviii

read more of the gods and monsters series here

[melyaliz]

Plans under sunset kisses

@smallgargoyle : New years request? Please? DC? I have really short brown hair, glasses, I am athletic and energetic. I have anxiety, ADHD, and sensory processing issues. I really like to talk to people and but tend to have to separate myself from larger groups when they get too loud. I like to run and swim and am in gymnastics. I like telling stories and doing comedy routines for friends. I would both kill and die for my friends. Sorry if any parts don't make much sense, for I am very tired.

Fandom: DC / Young Justice TV show

Summary: You had a plan to get Conners Ex back

Pairing: Conner Kent x Reader

Notes: This takes place during season two of the show. Mostly because I hadn’t started this before I watched it.

So, yeah, kind of rushed but I hope you like it ok. I wanted it to be more like a snip from a larger story idea but it kind of got away from me.

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

--------

Conner sat in the kitchen watching as M’gann laughed at something  Lagoon Boy said. He felt his hand clench in annoyance. It shouldn’t bother him, he was the one who broke up with M’gann but… they were just so public. He knew she wasn’t doing it on purpose but, it almost felt like she was showing off to him. That she had moved on and he was the one who was just left out.

A gentle hand on his shoulder made him jump. He spun around startled by the contact. You let out a nervous laugh holding up your hands in defense. “Easy tiger, it’s just me.” your eyes softened trying to convince the OG member that you meant him no harm. While still new (or new compared to the original team) you weren’t blind to the inner workings of the drama.

“We’re going to a movie” you nodded toward Robin, Impulse, Wondergirl and Blue Beetle. “Want to get out and join?”

“I’m good”

“YAY! Hey, guys, Superboy is coming!”

“That’s not what I meant…”

But it was too late, you were already pulling him toward the younger members of the team. Conner always forgot how strong you were. With the power to create and control stone, you were able to build up your strength that could rival Superboy himself.

“So why are you really so angry?” you asked as you grabbed your snacks from the concessions. Bart was chatting quickly to Tim and Jamie about the previous three moves that had been made leading up to this one. However, he kept getting confused with the sequels that hadn’t been made yet and Tim kept yelling at him to stop. Cassie was laughing at her boyfriend's anger which was maybe just a little more annoyed than it should be over something that wasn’t real.

Conner turned to the look down at you as you picked at your popcorn. So unassuming but he knew better. You were up to something.

“I don't’ know why you think I’m so angry.” Conner scowled, “My life is just going so great” he added dripping with sarcasm.”

“You damn right! You are chilling out with the coolest people in the Young Justice.”

That earned you a small smile from the grumpiest member.

“It’s nothing…”

This was his fatal mistake. One does not tell you “nothing is wrong” when it isn’t. Because you could see right through that shit. Narrowing your eyes you glared at him.

“Tell me”

“Huh?”

“Tell me what’s wrong”

“Nothing…” he said taking a step back in slight surprise. You were normally such a happy-go-lucky girl who was more often than not telling jokes and making those around her laugh. This serious side of her was something he had never experienced.

“If you don’t tell me you will regret it.” you said looking up at Conner only a few inches away from him.

“Wait, what?”

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I said…”

“Ok fine,” you turned abruptly popping a kernel of popcorn into your mouth. “Let’s watch this move”

But Conner couldn’t seem to focus on the movie, glancing every few moments back at you as you whispered comments to Tim and Cassie making them laugh.

“Ok but no one really has some romantic kiss under the setting sun.” you mumbled rolling your eyes, “especially a first kiss, those are always so awkward in some weird random place like a hallway.”

On your way home you guys stopped at a Target rushing around the store grabbing random things. The first one to find everything on their list won. This ended with you yelling at Bart that had cheated while Cassie grumbled something about how the gummy bears weren’t with the candy and how did that even make sense is that?

The ride home resulted in said gummy bear war where you all ended up chucking them at each other. Jamie taught You how to catch them in your mouth which resulted in everyone trying to catch them and eat them.

Conner was surprisingly good at it.

“Superboy lives up to his name.” you laughed breathlessly, it felt like you had been laughing all night and your sides were starting to hurt, “I bet this is your greatest power yet.”

Conner couldn’t help but smile at you as he effortlessly caught three in a row thrown by Bart, Tim, and Cassie.

By the time you all got home Conner realized he hadn’t thought about M’Gann all day.

------------------------

The next Morning you threw your arms around his neck signing your good mornings.

“Let's go get pancakes!” You sang grabbing his arm pulling him away. From across the room, M’Gann watched slightly confused. But Conner didn’t move to stop you letting you lead him away.

‘So I have a theory want to hear it?” you asked over fluffy pancakes.

“Oh?”

“That women want what they can’t have.”

“And?”

“Annnnddd,” you drew our your words as you cut into your breakfast with such excitement that Conner wondered if there was more than just flour and eggs in those little cakes, “If you act like your not available maybe your woman will come back.”

“And how could I do that?”

You winked a huge smile on your face, “Just follow my lead.”

This started as a long line of taking him on daily adventures. They weren’t large crazy ones. Sometimes it was just a beach hike to find the coolest shells. Sometimes it was to go to a crazy restaurant that served flaming vegetables.

A month went by and Conner realized he was truly enjoying himself. Being a normal teenage boy. He totally forgot about your plan to help him get M’Gann back he was just enjoying you. The way you liked to laugh and make up jokes. How you loved to be around all your friends yet sometimes would just drag him away so the two of you could talk. Or the silly way you would hop back and forth between ideas. You seemed to have boundless energy yet somehow always took time to listen to him.

All your little quirks.

Then M’Gann broke up with her boyfriend and confessed her feelings to Conner.

“I don’t know if you are with anyone…” she drew out her words glancing up at him. It was everything Conner had dreamed it would be. What he had wanted. To get her back, to have them work it out. “It was always you, it will always be you. I want to work things out between us.” she had added. Saying all the right words. Knowing all the right things to say.

So why didn’t it matter?

“Oh hello” you sang out swinging your feet back and forth from your favorite tree branch. The one you could climb up and watch the sunset. You had taken Conner there once showing him just how peaceful it was.

“Hey,” he said as he sat down on a branch just below yours looking up at you. The slowly dimming light of the sun casting soft shadows through the leaves on your face making you look slightly nymph-like.

“How was your evening?”

“M’Gann told me she wants me back”

“It worked!” you laughed punching the air. Yet something inside your stomach dropped. It was almost as if the tree itself had bent forward and for a moment you had lost your grip.

“I told her no.”

You paused your heart caught in your throat, head spinning, “Wait for what?”

“I don't want to be with her anymore.”

You watched as he pushed himself up coming closer to you. “I’m happier with someone else.”  

“Who,”  you asked unsure, there was no way. It couldn’t be. Could it? 

He kissed you then, soft and unsure. Tentative as if ready to pull away at the slightest hesitation from you. Not that you needed much prodding as you eagerly kissed him back. Under the branches on your favorite tree with the setting sun. Ok, so he proved you wrong.

Some first kisses were under the setting sun.

-GET TAGGED!-

Tagging: @royslittleharper  @the-shadow-of-atlantis @coffee-randomness @daisyboobear @werewitchling  @jason-redhood @hello-i-lovespiderman-blr @ocelysium @pinkwitch21